


Evangelion: The Second Coming

by Veniseppe



Category: Neon Genesis Evangelion
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-03
Updated: 2018-07-18
Packaged: 2019-06-01 14:12:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 30,099
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15144851
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Veniseppe/pseuds/Veniseppe
Summary: Four Years have passed since Ramiels attack on Tokyo-3. In those four years since Ramiel, no Angels have appeared, and life for the personnel of NERV and the citizens of the fortress city has gone on. Shinji has grown out of his timid state and has grown some confidence. Touji has been selected as the fourth child. Peace has reined in the city for almost half a decade. That, however, is about to change.





	1. Chapter 1

Evangelion: The Second Coming

Chapter 1 – School Days

Shinji Ikari sighed as he shifted his gaze to the classroom ceiling, the black dotted tiles adding to the boredom and confinement of the institution. Shinji wanted nothing more than to skip class and head to the arcade in the downtown mall. Normally he would have done just that; being employed by NERV had its privileges – such as the ability to skip out on class whenever you so desired and not have to explain yourself. Something Misato would get onto him about when she would find him home early. As of right now, however, he was shackled. Today he was sync test free. As was Touji for that matter, a fact that Kensuke intended to use to spend some time with his friends at said arcade. Shinji actually felt more than a little bad about all the times he and Touji would skip claiming that NERV called for them, leaving Kensuke bored and alone.

Touji was at first a little hesitant about using his NERV privileges for skipping class. Ironic, considering his less than stellar grades. He himself had only become a pilot about a year and a half ago, when the Americans had finally finished EVA-03 and NERV had  _coincidentally_ found the fourth child. Eventually though, the jock came around once he realized that he was too valuable to NERV to receive any substantial punishment, other than a wordy lecture. However, he as well felt bad for having to leave Kensuke behind.

The class bell rang out suddenly, jarring Shinji from his thoughts and sending his fellow classmates flooding to the door. Shinji and Touji however made their way to Kensuke who was still packing up.

"Ya' ready for tonight, Ken?" Touji asked, sitting on the top of his desk.

"It's been a while since we all got to hang out together," Shinji agreed, feeling a bit excited at the prospect of his free time.

"Yeah," Kensuke replied, "I'm ready. Man, you guys are always so busy, the three of us never really get to see each other outside of class anymore."

"And it looks like you'll have to wait a bit longer!" Spoke a familiar, voice from the front of the class room. It was Hikari Horaki, the class representative who had, unsurprisingly, remained as by the books and as much of a teacher's pet as she had the day Shinji had met her. The third child inwardly groaned.

"Why's that?" He asked, playing innocent. He knew why.

"In case, you've forgotten,  _Ikari,_ " she spoke, placing her fists on her hips, "It's  _your_  turn to clean up after class today, so you'll have to catch up to Touji and Kensuke later," She ordered.

"Oh, right," Shinji replied, acting as if he had forgotten. "Well, you see- "

"Oh no," Hikari interrupted him, "No excuses. Your NERV business may work on Ms. Taguchi, but they won't work on me! You and Rei are scheduled together today! You aren't going to just shift the load on her!"

Shinji frowned as his eye's shifted to the left, spotting Rei, who had already begun sweeping the floor. "You're right, Hikari. You're right, of course! I just, you know," he leaned forward to whisper, "I have to go to the boy's room."

Hikari's cheeks turned a little red before she sighed and crossed her arms, "Fine."

Shinji bowed slightly and made his way for the door, carrying his backpack, causally walking out, whistling a little tune, as Hikari watched him leave. A minute passed before the boys caught on and bid the class rep their farewells, following Shinji's example. It took about ten before Hikari caught on as well, leaving her red and fuming.

"I don't believe him!" She exclaimed, stomping her feet, as Rei continued to sweep. She then spun on her heels and marched towards the classroom closet to get a broom. "I'm so sorry that you were paired with such a lazy jerk today."

"It is of no consequence, class representative." Rei replied, continuing to go about her tasks.

"It is!" she insisted. "Geez. I don't know what happened to make Shinji such a delinquent! He used to be the saving grace of the three stooges, now he's just as bad as… As Touji! No! He's worse! Touji may skip class, but at least he still does his classroom duties!"

The more she thought about it, however, maybe there was more than simple laziness at work with Shinji's refusal to clean today. Sure, he and the other stooges were already planning on heading to the arcade, but it was no secret that Shinji didn't like Rei. Hikari wondered why though. At one time the two had been close, but something had happened and Shinji began to stop talking with her entirely. She'd wondered if she'd shot him down, but it wasn't like Shinji to be brave enough to ask anyone out, at least not back then. He'd had relationships before, too, even with Hikari though she loath to admit it, but he didn't act that way when they split up. He wasn't even upset. It must have been something else. Something NERV Related. Meaning that they maybe weren't allowed to talk about whatever it was. Still, it was a little sad to see what was at one-time Rei's only real friend treat her so poorly.

(000)

Misato Katsuragi sighed as she rested against her couch, an open beer in her left hand, and her right arm draped over its back. She smiled warmly after taking a sip and smiled at the television blaring in her living room. It was her favorite past time – getting drunk on Yebisu and watching shitty game shows. NERV had been as boring as usual today. Misato almost missed the Angels; she  _hated_ them, but at least when they showed their ugly faces it gave her something to do besides paper work. The three Angels that had shown up four years ago – Sachiel and Samshel, and Ramiel – They had been quite the bastards. Sachiel was tough, and Shinji almost couldn't beat it. Samshel wasn't so tough but he was dangerous. He used his whip-like tentacles to slice most anything in his path and would have cut up Shinji too, if he hadn't killed it in time. Ramiel, on the other hand… Ramiel was a nightmarish beast. Not in appearance but in ability. The diamond shaped Angel was a floating fortress, a fortress that had boiled Shinji alive and was only slain after all the power in japan had been used to break through its AT-field and destroy the core inside.

No more had come since then but NERV knew that didn't mean they were gone. There were more. There  _had_ to be more. When the first angel appeared in Antarctica during her father's expedition she  _saw it_. She saw that giant of light and it looked right at her with its white hot glowing eye's and it screamed and she screamed – There  _had_ to be more.

Suddenly, on the wood coffee table, Misato phone began to vibrate, the fast-paced beating of plastic against wood creating a low drumming sound that removed Misato from her thoughts, prompting her answer it. "Hello?"

"Hello? Miss Katsuragi? It's Hikari."

Misato smiled, then returned the greeting. "Hikari! How are you?" Misato had always liked the girl. She and Shinji had been in… something resembling a relationship a few years ago, but that didn't really go anywhere. It was a good thing they had ended it early though, so there weren't any hurt feelings. Besides, Misato could tell it wouldn't last. She'd been worried that Shinji wouldn't handle it so well but, by that time, Shinji had grown out of his frightened self and had a little more self-confidence.

"I-" Hikari paused, "I'm doing well, I called to talk about Shinji."

Misato frowned at the way she said that. Recently she'd been getting these calls a little too frequently. Shinji skipping out of class, claiming that NERV had messaged him. She'd told those damned spineless teachers a hundred times that they had a set schedule and it did  _NOT_ interfere with schooling. They were all too scared of NERV to question him, though. Even  _Touji_ did the same thing. It was embarrassing and most of all reflected poorly on  _her_. What's more sometimes he didn't even show up! It was good that  _he_  grew a spine, but sometimes she thought he'd grown a little too much of one. "I see," she acknowledged through gritted teeth, "He's skipping class again?"

"Not exactly," Hikari explained, "He actually finished the school day today but, when I told him that he had to stay after for his class duties, he shirked them! He left poor Rei by herself!"

Misato pressed her free hand to her temples and sighed. With Shinji's personality change also came another change. For some reason the boy had developed a distaste for Rei. Misato honestly had thought that they, or at least Shinji, would hit it off well; he had done the whole white knight and everything when he piloted unit-01 for her when she was wheeled in on the cart to pilot. For a while it seemed like they did. Then, one day, Shinji began to outright ignore her and on the occasion, he  _would_ acknowledge her, his voice was always filled with disdain for her. Whenever Misato tried asking him what had happened he would dodge the question, giving her answers like 'I just don't like her' or 'she's weird' something along those lines, things people around the base would say. She knew there was more to it. Even so, she'd given up trying to figure out what had happened. "Alright," she replied, "I'll do something about him when he gets home."

"Alright," Hikari replied hesitantly, "Have a good night, Misato."

"You as well."

(000)

Touji stretched as the pair exited the mall. "Dammit! How are you so good at those fighting games, Kensuke?" he groaned in annoyance at Kensuke's video game prowess. "I just can't figure out the combos. It's too complicated for me. Racing games are more my style."

"You can't figure out a few simple button combinations, but you can pilot an Eva?" Kensuke asked in amusement.

"Eva's really aren't that hard to pilot once you get the hang of it. It's just like moving your own bodies when you sync with one. Really, you can't tell the difference between the Eva and yourself when your sync ration gets high enough," Shinji replied, then paused, adding somewhat grimly, "Though, that's not always a good thing."

"Yeah. Piloting Eva's not hard like those button combos are," Touji agreed, omitting the last part of Shinji's statement.

Kensuke just sighed and, a little disappointed, said, "Well, I doubt I'll ever get to know if that's true or not."

Shinji looked towards the sky which had turned a dark violet hue. It was late and Misato would get mad if he got home too late. She didn't like him staying out past midnight, it was the one rule she was strict about with him, so he tended not to break it. On the occasion he would, however, he would stay out late until Misato had gone to bed or passed out and would sneak back in, then leave for school in the morning before she woke up. She generally would forget about it. Tonight, however, he figured he was already on one too many people's shit list. "I should get going," he spoke, looking over to Touji, "We actually have sync test tomorrow, remember."

Touji groaned in annoyance. "Yeah, I remember. Damn, those tests are so boring!"

Shinji shrugged and began to head off in Misato's direction. "You get used to it. Later, Kensuke."

"Later! Are you going too, Touji?"

"Ah… yeah," Touji replied, "Got some o-where to be."

Kensuke raised a brow. "Alright, see you at school."

"Yeah, later!"

(000)

Shinji entered his shared apartment with Misato. "I'm home!" he called out in typical Japanese tradition and began to slip off his uniform slippers, he didn't even realize that Misato didn't reply back by the time he was making his way into the living room. What he found there surprised him. Misato, more or less sober, with an agitated look on her face and a beer can sitting on a coaster on the table.

"Ah," he paused, "something the matter?"

"My beers warm," Misato stated, dryly.

"We… have a fridge," Shinji suggested.

"And  _you_ have responsibilities you are  _expected_ to take care of," she added, her voice raising, "regardless of whether or not you have to do them with Rei!"

Shinji momentarily grimaced at the mention of the girl, then sighed realizing that someone, someone being Hikari, had ratted on him to Misato. "Yeah," he replied, "yeah, I know," he agreed trying to appease her.

"Then why didn't you!?" She asked, standing up, then sighing and folding her arms over her chest. "Look, Shinji, I  _get it_. Something happened between the two of you; I don't know what and frankly, at this point, it no longer matters, but you have to put that aside sometimes. Like it or not, you two are bound together as long as NERV exists and that includes in school. That's another thing! You can't just skip or leave class whenever you want! You  _know_ you're NERV responsibilities rarely, if ever, overlap with you school responsibilities! If you keep skipping class-"

"What's the point of  _going_  to school for me anymore, Misato?" Shinji asked, interrupting Misato, his voice slightly raised in annoying.

Misato blinked in confusion, "What?"

"I'm an Eva pilot, Misato," he explained, "I'm a 'guardian of humanity' as you and Ritsuko always keep reminding me. On top of that I'm a senior now, it's not like I need to try; what's the point of me going to school anymore?"

Misato blinked once more. "When NERV is no longer needed, what are you going to do, Shinji? You realize this won't last forever, right? Eventually, the Angels are going to be gone and then-"

"I think they're gone already!" Shinji replied, "But NERV is still having me undergo sync tests, practically every other day, even though I've clearly plateaued! An Angel hasn't appeared in five years, Misato! There's no way they're coming back!"

Misato frowned, "That's what we told ourselves for fifteen years, Shinji," She muttered almost silently.

Shinji softened the look on his face. He'd gone a bit too far in his reaction to Misato's accusations. She was only doing what a guardian  _should_ do. "Alright… Alright, I'll stop skipping class," he agreed, sighing and moving past her to his room. "I'm going to bed, I'm tired," he dismissed himself, a bit of an edge still in his voice.

Misato sighed in exasperation.

(000)

Hikari sighed as she entered the classroom, as usual she was the first one here. The afternoon before she had stayed behind in place of Shinji to help Rei clean and she was  _still_ fuming about it. Not that she had to stay behind, but that Shinji had disregarded his responsibilities like that!... He had also so easily outwitted her, along with Aida and Touji. Touji! That was another thing! Touji hadn't even tried to stick up for her! Sure, they weren't really  _dating_ , but… She had given him a good lashing later that night after he'd blown all his money at the arcade.

Not long after Hikari had arrived, as well as a few more students, Rei had entered the classroom as well, taking her regular seat at the back of the class, near the window, Hikari tracking her the whole way there. Rei was never really someone who talked often, but that afternoon she was uncomfortably silent. Whenever Hikari had looked at her, the girl's back was always too her. She couldn't help but blame Shinji for that too. When they had finally finished and Hikari had tried to say goodbye to the girl and had apologized for Shinji's dismissal of his duties, Rei had looked surprised for a moment before returning to her normal, apathetic expression.

Hikari's eye's lingered on the girl as she pulled out a small brown book and flipped open the book and began to read.  _That's new_. As long as Hikari had known the girl – which had been since middle school – Rei never had an interest in anything, never any extra curriculars, any hobbies…  _When did she start reading?_

Then, the three stooges entered the room. Shinji and Aida continued to converse while Touji looked out of the corner of his eye to Hikari, who glared at him with venom in her eye's, prompting him to look away in a dejected manner. Hikari then looked over to Shinji, who nonchalantly plopped down in his seat. She watched discreetly as his eye's shifted towards Rei for a moment and a look of annoyance or even anger appeared on his face for a moment before he leaned over his desk and brought out the new, sleeker classroom laptop model.

Later, during lunch hour, when her fellow students had dispersed about the campus, Hikari moved to the back of the classroom. Normally she would eat with the larger student groups, or even the stooges, a fact which shocked many, as they knew the history between Shinji and herself. Even though Shinji was jerk however, he made it easy to still be his friend after the fact. Instead, though, she had decided to try and eat with Rei today.

"Ah," she started off awkwardly as she approached the albino's desk, "Hello, Rei."

The bluenette shifted for a moment as she dug her lunch from her bag and looked back over her shoulder, bringing the box up with her. "Class representative," she greeted in kind.

Hikari frowned slightly, then smiled a friendly smile, "Rei, you don't really have to call me that, you can just call me by my given name."

"Very well, class representative," Rei replied, as she opened her Bento box, unknowingly causing the brunette to sigh in slight exasperation.

"Rei," Hikari started, "You do… know my name, right?"

The albino nodded. "You are Hikari Horaki – our class representative."

"Right," she nodded, a little off put, "I would prefer it if you would call me by that name."

Rei paused for a moment, then picked up the wrapped chopsticks and opened them. "Very well, Hikari."

Hikari smiled brightly, then began to blush slightly. "I, ah, I was wondering," she started, "If you would mind if I shared my lunch with you?" she waited to be shot down.

Rei seemed to hesitate for a moment as she stared d own at the rice, tofu, and vegetables in her lunch. Then, she silently answered, "I would not mind."

Hikari exhaled silently and sat her lunch down momentarily on Rei's desk, moved a desk over to sit across from her and took her seat in said desk. The traditional girl then did the traditional idetakimasu of Japanese culture, and began to eat.

Minutes later, after an awkward silence, Hikari spoke up, hoping to get Rei speaking. "I, um, I noticed you reading a book today," she pointed out, "I didn't… know you liked to read."

Rei nodded as she continued to eat, swallowed and then spoke. "It is a hobby I have recently acquired."

Hikari smiled,  _Now we're getting somewhere,_ "Oh, what made you take an interest in books?"

"I… do not know…"

Hikari frowned. "Well… what do you like about them?"

Rei was silent for a moment, thinking it over, Hikari presumed, then the girl answered. "I-" she paused for a moment, "I enjoy the tales of other people. I enjoy seeing the elements of a person's self in their writing. It is their bond to the world – it is what they give to it."

_What they give to it?_

"I also enjoy seeing characters grow as the move along. I enjoy not knowing what lies ahead for them. It is something I wish to experience."

Hikari frowned, then spoke up. "You want to grow?" she asked the bluenette, "I think you already have… a little. I mean, you started reading, right? Before I'd never known you to have any other hobbies… But then, I don't know you that well."

Rei blinked at her a few times before she continued to eat.

Touji grumbled to himself as he, Aida, and Shinji ate on the roof. Hikari was mad at him, and he knew why. He'd done nothing while Shinji so obviously tricked her. It was understandable, he supposed but, it was one of their few days off and they hadn't hung out with Aida in a long time. Even so, he still felt bad. He didn't know how to deal with this. This was his and Hikari's first real fight as a… thing. Sighing, he shifted his gaze over to Shinji and frowned. He knew someone who might, however.

"Hey, Shin-man," Touji spoke up, interrupting his and Aida's conversation. "When you and Hikari were… you know, dating… how did you deal with her getting mad at ya'?"

Shinji paused for a moment, then matter-of-factly answered him with, "I didn't."

"Wha'?!" Touji replied, "Whaddya' mean 'I didn't'?!"

"Just that," Shinji off-handedly replied, "That's why we didn't really work out, I guess," he reflected, looking up to the sky, "I just, well, I didn't take it all that seriously," Shinji then paused and looked over to Touji. "Why? Is she mad at you about something?"

"Yeah! Because of you!" Touji, slightly read faced replied.

"Oh, she's mad because you didn't side with her last night," Shinji put two and two together. "Well, that sounds like it's your problem, you shouldn't have chosen me over your girlfriend. You should have stayed to help her… or something. You could have met up with us later."

"I-" Touji started, realizing his mistake, "I didn't… You were the one who ran out on his duties!"

"Oh, Touji," he replied, "You know how lazy I can be."

"That's true," Kensuke chimed in, "Shinji isn't well known for his worth ethic."

"Whatever!" Touji replied, eliciting a laugh from Shinji.

(000)

Ritsuko and Misato stood in the pribnow box of unit-00's holding cell, the giant cyclopean war machine staring blankly ahead at them. Touji and Shinji had already finished their sync tests and, while the latter had already headed home, the former had stayed behind. It was odd to Ritsuko, the boy and Rei were acquainted but never really seemed close to one another. Shinji on the other hand, well, he seemed to detest Rei as much as she did, although, admittedly, Shinji had a far better reason.

Speaking of the albino. "Strange…" Ritsuko murmured, leaning over Maya's shoulder, placing her hand on the mousey techs back.

"Isn't it?" Maya acknowledged, "Normally Rei's sync score remains the same forty to forty-five percent, but now it's dipped down to thirty-seven…"

Misato didn't understand much of the pairs sciencey techno babble, but she did know that when a pilot's percentage had lowered, it was usually a bad sign. "What do you think is causing it?" she asked. Misato was also aware that a sync score could be the result of a personal, everyday issue – a multitude of things, really. But, this was  _Rei_. Misato had never known her to let life trouble her. It must've been something else.

"Well," Ritsuko replied, straightening up, "I can't say… It's possible she's had her," she looked to Touji, who was busy with his phone " _Monthly visitor_ , but-,"

"Rei doesn't… menstruate, right… Maybe she's a late bloomer?"

"It's possible," Ritsuko admitted, "I'll have to give her a checkup, soon, it's more than likely something wrong with her constitution. Rei has never really been a healthy girl."

Misato then moved closer to Ritsuko and began to whisper to her. "Last night I got a call from Hikari, you know, Shinji's old girlfriend? Anyway, she said that Shinji, just left Rei to do all that work by herself! Lucky for her, Hikari is such a good girl, but still, do you think that maybe upset Rei a little?" The Major threw out there.

Ritsuko seemed to consider this for a moment before shrugging lightly. "I doubt it. Shinji being mean to Rei isn't exactly news or anything…"

Misato sighed, "Well, you're not wrong there, but even  _she_ has to have her days…"

Ritsuko then leaned over and activated the com systems. "Ok, Rei. We're finished today."

"Yes ma'am," came the quiet reply.

(000)

Rei shut the door to her apartment, but did not close it. There was no need. Ever since she'd moved here the lock had been broken. The few guests she had received would often make note of it, warning her that someone could simply barge in and harm or rob her. No such thing ever happened. However, at the moment, Rei wasn't concerned with the lock or the lack of robberies committed. Instead, she looked to the stack of books lying at the foot of her bed. The stack reached almost half the height of the bed, containing books she had read and books she hadn't yet. The question replayed itself in her mind –  _'why did you take an interest in books?'_

Why had she indeed? Rei hadn't ever question the hobby that had seemingly appeared out of nowhere, only that it had happened around the time she began her tertiary education. Upon reflection, she supposed she perhaps had simply began to read to pass the time, she has read on occasion beforehand. That did not sound right, however. Rei had never had a problem with sitting idle until the time came to perform a task – such as going to school or sync testing. So why had she begun reading?

Her eye's shifted to the floor for a moment before she entered her bathroom and began to undress herself. When she had finished, stripped down completely, she began to examine herself. Upon further reflection, she had been undergoing more changes than in behavior. She was taller now; her breasts had grown and her figure had more curvature than before. Looking at herself in the mirror, she had now noticed, for the first time in fact, that her hair had gotten quite long; not as long as some of the other females in her class, but still it had noticeably lengthened. What had once been a mop of blue hair had grown out, down her neck and the sides of her face. Her bangs had remained more or less the same however.

Taking a few strands of blue hair in her hand she began to examine herself further. Her face had changed from how she had remembered it as well. It was longer now, and more angular. Rei was almost shocked as she placed another hand on her face gently. How had she not noticed the changes before? Why was she noticing them now?

The bluenette removed her hands from her head and went to the shower to wash off the sweat she had worked up during her march home from the high school. She didn't bother with the heat handle as it had never worked in the first place. She remained under the icy water for a good while before she finally decided she'd been properly washed off.

Afterwards, Rei dried herself off and walked back into the living room/bedroom of her apartment, allowing the towel to fall lifelessly to the floor in a crumpled, soggy heap and fell against her mattress, staring blankly at the ceiling for a moment, before looking over to her nightstand where a baby blue book and a pen lay.

After much hesitation, Rei reached for the pair.

(000)

Shinji yawned as he entered the classroom, following Touji and Kensuke. Yesterday's sync tests had been unbearably draining, he'd never known that sitting in a tube for hours on end thinking of nothing could be so exhausting. What was even more puzzling however, is why Touji had decided to stay after his testing was done. He was first and even though he normally did wait for Shinji and vice versa, he didn't normally wait for Rei. Upon the thought of the girl Shinji's eye's shifted over to her seat at the back by the window, where he found her looking at him, hand on cheek, and a blank stare on her face.

Shinji blinked in surprise before that surprise turned to annoyance and a scowl formed on his face. "What?" he asked aloud, the annoyance evident in his voice, gaining the attention of his classmates, who there were not much of.

Rei kept her stare on him, not in a challenging way, of course, but as if she hadn't heard him to begin with.

Shinji frowned and shook his head. "Whatever, freak," he dismissed her and moved towards his seat unaware of the daggers being glared into him by Hikari. He then angrily moved towards his desk and just as he was about to seat himself, Rei spoke.

"You're taller," she spoke simply, earning her a look from the rest of the class that she didn't pay attention to, she just kept her gaze on Shinji who looked over at her, the scowl still on his face. She then calmly shifted her face out towards the window and examined the outside world.

(000)

The day passed as usual, with their teacher continuing her lectures and Rei continuing to listen to a world more alien than the one she lived in now until the lunch bell rang and she prepared for lunch.

To her surprise, however, Hikari had once again decided to eat with her. Unlike before however, instead of smile on her face, she bore a frown – a fact that made Rei puzzled.

"Hello, Rei," she spoke softly, pulling up a desk and sitting across from the bluenette.

"Hello, Cla… Hikari."

Hikari smiled softly for a moment before she frowned. "I'm sorry about how Shinji treated you this morning…" she apologized on the pilot's behalf, "But, I was wondering, what you meant when you said that he was taller?"

Rei halted her eating of rice, holding a ball of it together with her chopsticks and staring down at the vegetarian bento box. "I was making a simple observation," she explained, "Ikari has grown taller since he first arrived in Tokyo-3."

Hikari raised a brow.  _Well, yeah?_ Hikari mentally commented,  _Of course he has, that was four years ago._

"You have changed as well, Hikari," Rei spoke once more.

Hikari's cheeks flushed, "O-oh?" she asked, "R-really?"

Rei nodded once simply, "You are also taller."

Hikari smiled slight and sighed in a bit of annoyance mixed in with relief. "I suppose I am, yeah."

"You no longer style your hair in pig tails, your figure has curved more, and your chest has also grown in size," Rei once again stated so simply.

Hikari's flush turned into a full-on blush as she threw her arms over her chest and lowered her head. "Rei!" she hissed.

Rei blinked in surprise as she observed Hikari before speaking once again. "Forgive me, I seem to have made another social mistake," she stated in a monotone voice.

"You weren't so quite descriptive with Shinji," she muttered.

"Ikari did not ask," she stated simply.

Hikari raised an eyebrow at that. "Oh? What would you have told him if he had asked?"

Rei seemed to pause for a moment as she processed Hikari's question before speaking. Then she answered, "He has grown more muscular as well," she spoke. That was because of the physical exercises the pilots had to undergo occasionally and the healthy diet they were required to have, but Hikari had not asked why.

Hikari seemed to flush again. "I-I suppose he has… He's also grown ruder _,_ " she murmured then changed the subject. "What about Touji?"

Rei paused once again. "He has not grown as tall as Ikari, strange considering he used to be taller, but he has grown more muscular as well, he is also… smarter than he used to seem to be. He is kinder than I remember him being."

Hikari giggled at that, "Well, I think he was always kind."

Rei simply nodded in acknowledgment, but she felt a strange emotion inside her. Strange but pleasant. She could only describe it as happiness. She'd only ever felt this way twice before that she could recall.  _Odd…_

(000)

Shinji Ikari sighed as he kicked his shoes off, the smell of the LCL that had soaked into his skin all but washed away. "I'm home," he called out to no one, as a few moments later Misato arrived and gave the same greeting. Shinji then made his way to the couch and plummeted down on it. Today had been… annoying for lack of a better word. The sync tests had felt twice as long and he couldn't stop thinking about what Rei had said, even though it wasn't all that much to think about.  _'You're taller'_ he mentally repeated to himself. They hadn't so much as spoken in years, and out of the blue she comes and says that?  _Why?_

Misato, who had already gotten undressed and into her 'regular' clothes, which consisted of nothing more than a yellow half-tank and an incredibly short pair of short shorts, was already delving into her fridge, looking for more of that precious Yebisu that she so vigorously drank. Sighing in relief as she pulled out a can, she looked over to Shinji, who was laying against the couch, exhausted.

He'd been in an odd mood since he'd shown up for his sync test that afternoon and had remained in it even after leaving the plug. He'd been silent during the car ride home as well, staring out the window as if he were deep in thought. It kind of concerned Misato. Shinji was normally a bit more… social. Misato blinked once.  _Four years ago, I never thought I'd make that statement._

Smirking, she leaned in and grabbed another can of Yebisu and made her way to the living room, stopping just before she passed Shinji and held the can to his face. His eyes were closed and he wasn't paying attention, so Misato shook the can about a bit, the sloshing liquid inside breaking him from his trance.

"Huh?" Shinji asked, before spotting the yellow can and giving Misato an incredulous look.

The raven-haired Major rolled her eyes. "Oh, don't be such a baby, just take it. When  _I_ was your age, I was already a tried and true alcoholic, and I won't tell if you don't ~," she told him in a sing-song tune. Shinji seemed to hesitate at first, then sighed and took it.

"You don't take this guardian business very seriously do you?" He rhetorically joked to Misato.

"On the contrary, I take being your guardian quite seriously," she replied, taking a seat on the couch, facing herself towards Shinji crossing her legs. "What's bothering you?"

Shinji looked surprised for a moment then silently scoffed as if she were acting ridiculous. "What? Nothing…" he replied then popped the can open and took a small sip of the Yebisu before shuddering slightly and wincing. He never really did like the taste of the stuff, he was more interest in the side effects, and unbeknownst to Misato this wasn't the first time he'd had a taste. Of course, he hadn't taken from her stash, he knew how, despite her having hundreds of cans in reserve, when one was out of place, she could tell. He didn't quite know how, though.

"Mm," she replied, opening her own can now. "Girl trouble?" She teased.

Shinji paused, looking at his can and sighed silently, "Something like that, I guess."

"Oh? What's the matter won't she talk to you?" Misato inquired, still teasing a bit.

"No," Shinji murmured, "The problem is that she did,"

"What's wrong?" Misato asked, not having heard.

"Nothing's wrong Misato," Shinji reassured her, "Just… class is annoying is all."

Misato shrugged.  _Well I tried, he'll come around eventually and tell me what's wrong._ She then turned serious. "You are going, aren't you? To class?"

Shinji sighed in silent relief as he leaned against the couch. "Yeah. I told you I would start going and not skip or leave early anymore, right?"

"Well… bad habits are hard to break."

Shinji smirked and began to slosh his cup at Misato, "And some can't be broken."


	2. Chapter 2

Evangelion: The Second Coming

Chapter 2 – Stress/Magma Diver

Shinji sighed as he entered the entry plug. School had been as tedious as usual lately, even more so now that he was actually staying the whole day. He so desperately wished he could leave early like he used to, but he'd made a promise to Misato – a promise that he intended to keep. It wasn't all that bad, however. Rei hadn't tried talking to him again, so that was a bonus. Kept his mind off…  _it_. Hikari had started to eat with the girl more often, that he'd heard some of his classmate's gossiping about in class, but that wasn't any of  _his_ business. He didn't care if the albino was making friends, he just wanted her to leave him alone.

"Beginning first contact," spoke Maya through the intercom, gaining Shinji's attention for a moment and causing him to feel his body merge with nuero system of unit-01. Shinji smiled lightly, he liked Maya, he and she had much in common and she was kind of cute as well, but there was a ten-year age difference there and he was sure  _she'd_ never go for it. They'd grown their friendship since he'd arrived in NERV and, unlike doctor Akagi and his damned father, it was evident to  _her_ that his sync score had plateaued. On the days when Akagi was absent and Misato was busy with paper work, Maya would talk with him over the inter-com system; she would even vent music from his phone over the speakers to him. She wouldn't let leave early, though. She told him that he at least had to stay in there. It was fair enough for him; sitting in that tube for hours on end thinking of and saying  _nothing_ was the worst torture he'd ever endured. Shinji then remembered that Ramiel and shuddered slightly.  _Almost._

"Initiating Second Contact," she spoke again and Shinji closed his eyes as he felt the synchronization deepen. Everytime he got in an Eva he felt anxious. One would think that, after four years of sync tests and combat sims, he'd get over it. Every time however, he was reminded. Reminded of the fear he felt that day as the NERV headquarters shook around him, of when he felt like, for a split – terrifying second, that he would drown in the LCL, when it felt like Sachiel had pierced his eye socket and he swore he could  _feel_ the blood leaking down his face, and when he blacked out.

"Initiating third contact."

Shinji let his mind go blank.

Sitting in the Pribnow box were Maya, Ritsuko, Touji, Rei, and Misato, all staring at the purple and green behemoth with its disturbingly humanlike features. Touji had decided to take a seat near the control panel, watching the techs at work because, unfortunately for him, he'd left his phone at Kensuke's house when he'd stopped by for a short while before heading off to NERV. He hoped Hikari didn't send anything too… incriminating. He didn't really understand how to read the instruments in front of him, but he took notice when a machine, monitoring what could only be his pulse judging from what the jock had seen on television, momentarily skyrocketed before going back down to normal levels.

The fourth child leaned forwards then shifted his face to the two women next to him. "W-was that supposed to happen?" he asked, worried.

Maya nodded silently while Ritsuko didn't respond. Misato explained it for him. "Shinji… He doesn't have fond memories of piloting Eva..."

Touji blinked, getting what she was trying to explain. "Oh," he murmured. He'd been piloting for a year and a half and known Shinji for almost twice that long but had never realized just how much he disliked it. Sure, he would complain about the tests taking forever and being boring, but he must have had it so much worse than Touji, considering what's happened to him.  _And not to mention I blamed what happened to Sakura on him. Shit._

Touji looked over to Rei who was sitting there as emotionless as ever, staring blankly at unit-01. Touji doubted that she even noticed him.  _I wonder if that has something to do with his problem with Ayanami?_

(000)

Shinji entered the prinbow box after washing off the metallic smell of blood from his body and changing into fresh clothes. It was Touji's turn to undergo his activation test now, and as usual Shinji would wait until the jock finished, then they would take off and, if it wasn't too late, head to the arcade. But, that was a mighty big if.

Immediately, when the doors slid open, Misato turned and waved to Shinji with a friendly smile. Shinji returned it with a light smile of his own before taking notice of Rei, in the back of the room, reading some brown book. His smile retracted and his brow furrowed a bit as a single question ran through his mind.  _When did she start… reading?_

Shinji shook his head.  _Not any of my business in any case…_ and moved over to the control station Maya was occupying, taking a seat next to her, the one that Touji had been previously occupying. "How's he doing?" he asked her.

Maya smiled lightly, "He's improving… slowly, but he's still improving. His scores shifted up 0.5 percent, see!" she pointed to the monitor.

"Ah," Shinji agreed, "So he can  _feel_ more."

Maya frowned, "Shinji, I didn't – "

Shinji bliked once in surprise before clapping a hand lightly on Maya's shoulder and laughing. "I'm just kidding, Maya. Just a joke! Haha!"

Ritsuko looked discretely over to Shinji then to Misato. It seemed more than her lazy nature had rubbed off on Shinji. Oddly enough, however, Misato either didn't seem to get the joke, or didn't find it all that funny as she merely frowned at the laughing young man. Ritsuko then looked back over to Shinji. Something about his laugh did seem… forced.

Rei, in the back, continued to read her book but listened to the exchange between the lieutenant and Ikari. Oddly enough, she'd found she was irritated by it. Most of the noise throughout the day, Rei could tune out. For some reason, though, the sound of Shinji's laughter made her clinch the edges of her book tightly.

Afterwards, when Touji had finished, Shinji went to meet him down in the locker rooms, where the fourth child had just finished washing the LCL from his pores and was now getting dressed in some proper clothes. Shinji was ready to get out of the underground and go top side. It was late, but, it wasn't  _that_ late.

"Touji," he greeted the jock who was putting his shirt on, gaining his attention. "You ready to get going?"

Touji frowned slightly. "Actually no…" he said.

Shinji raised a brow at him. "I thought you didn't like it down here?"

Touji's frowned deepened. "I don't. It's just… Hikari wants me to spend more time with Rei while I'm here."

Shinji furrowed his brows. "What? Why?"

Touji shrugged, "She said something about… how Rei looked sad to her. Said she wanted her to have more friends, that the least I could do was wait for her to finish her tests as well. I mean, she's right, kinda'… No one really waits for her…"

Shinji frowned at him, then smiled nonchalantly. "Well, don't and  _say_ you did," he offered.

Touji sighed, chuckling a little bit. "C'mon, Shinji. You know how Hikari is; she'd find out, then I'd be in  _real_  trouble."

Shinji grimaced at that then, sighed a defeated sigh. "Alright," he conceded, "I'm leaving though. Not staying around here any longer than I have to."

Touji nodded. "Alright, man. Take it easy, ya' know?"

Shinji stopped for a moment looking at him with a dubious expression on his face before turning and waving a hand in dismissal. "Yeah, you too."

(000)

The following morning, Misato, Ritsuko, and Maya found themselves in the NERV break lounge, hovering next to the coffee machine as Misato seated herself against the counter, Ritsuko sat in a low chair, and Maya stood leaning against said counter. The former of which had just arrived when the bridge crew had decided to take a coffee break. It was the usual morning routine for them. What wasn't usual was that Misato looked less lively than she usually did. In fact, she even appeared to look downcast. Certainly not a look synonymous with the Major.

"Is something wrong, Misato?" Ritsuko asked.

Misato sighed. "Well…" she hesitated, "Shinji… It's just that Shinji and I got into an argument the other day and he told me why he was skipping so often and not finishing the school day."

Maya perked at that. Shinji was skipping? As far as she knew he made good grades at school. Of course,… those were  _Shinji's_ words.

"And? What did he say?" Ritsuko asked, sounding a little disinterested.

"He told me that… he didn't see the point of even going if people were just going to continue to have him pilot Eva."

Ritsuko raised a brow. "Well, he's kind of right. He's already paid for piloting and when the Angels return we'll need him. Really, it would be best for everyone if we got all three children out of school and had them spend more of their time at NERV. Asuka graduated college by the time she was thirteen. She works in the lab at NERV Germany full time now," The faux blonde sighed and took a sip of her coffee. "Of course, Commander Ikari insists that we keep them in school."

Misato frowned and furrowed her brows at Ritsuko. "So do I."

Ritsuko looked back to her and shrugged. "Well, when the Angels attack again, they won't be as ready as they could be."

Misato frowned. "Are we positive the Angels will appear again?"

Ritsuko looked at her dubiously. "What are you implying?"

"I was just thinking… Do we really have to schedule these tests almost every day? I mean Shinji has hit a ceiling and -"

"Of course we do, Misato!" Ritsuko snapped back.

Misato frowned. "Okay, well what about Shinji? Does  _he_ really need to – "

"Yes! These tests are not only to raise sync scores, they are also vital to improving our understanding of the Eva's but on how to advance them technologically as well, and Shinji is- "

"He has PTSD, Ritsuko!" Misato cut her off. "He has PTSD and he's only 18 years old! Every time he even gets into that plug his pulse skyrockets! Toji doesn't do that and Rei doesn't do that! He's traumatized, don't you understand?!" she exclaimed, her voice wavering.

Ritsuko was silent for a moment, looking at Misato with a scowl. The she stood up and approached the Major. "The  _world_ is traumatized, Misato. Is one scarred teenager more important than the fate of the world?"

Then angrily, but determined, she left, passing Maya, who stared silently and a little bit scared. The lieutenant then looked back to Misato, who was frowning as she stared down at the floor with narrowed eye's. "Shinji is…" she spoke up, gaining the Major's attention. "He's strong. You're right, he's traumatized, but… he still fought every time. Even though he was scared."

Misato continued to stare angrily at the floor.

(000)

GEOLOGICAL RESEARCH FACILITY

MOUNT. YASHIMA

1230 HOURS

Seikiro Yamura sighed as he monitored the flowing of molten rock that their sonar displayed via his terminal. Though, he monitored the flow, he didn't actually pay any real attention. It was the same black and green sonar every day, nothing ever changed. It was, as far as he was concerned, the absolute most boring job on the face of the Earth.

At least, he always told himself, that he wasn't in the navy, under constant threat of pirates, or part of the U.N. force in Africa, where the last of the Impact wars were still raging on. Those affirmations never really helped. The one  _true_ bright side, as far as Seikiro was concerned, was the fact that the job payed  _extremely well._ He really had no right to complain, he supposed, but it was in his nature, he couldn't help it.

 _Besides,_ he thought to himself, looking at the sonar screen,  _who wouldn't hate their job if it entailed staring at damned thing?_

Out of the black, birthed from the green, sweeping line of the sonars scanner, an object appeared, accompanied with a high-pitched beep. Seikiro blinked once in disbelief. Did he actually just see that? No, they'd been monitoring the exact same area for the past few months. They'd already mapped out whatever could be down there and, spoiler alert, it was just more molten rock.

The scan-line circled again and once again, in the same spot, their appeared a green dot.  _What the hell?_ He asked himself. This was high quality sonar tech, made specifically for monitoring the molten rivers of Mount Yashima, so whatever abnormalities  _did_ appear on the sonar was pretty well detailed and  _massive_. Occasionally they got a large chunk of rock appear on the sonar, but it was eventually broken up, and they could  _tell_ it was rock. Whatever this thing was, however… It was perfectly  _round_ , according to the sonar. It was like someone had drawn a perfect circle on a piece of sketch paper – only it wasn't a drawing and it was on his sonar.

"Ah, Doctor Miyamoto," Seikiro called to his superior, who was currently reviewing last week's data charts.

Miyamoto looked up to find out who had called for him, then stopped when he noticed Seikiro, waving him over. The scientist excused himself from his colleagues and made his way across the room to Seikiro's station, a look of slight confusion on his features. "Yes, Seikiro, what is it?"

"Ah, something appeared on the sonar, doctor," Seikiro replied.

"Oh yeah? That's rare. Probably just some rock clump, right? How big was it?"

"Well, that's what I thought too, but…" Seikrio motioned towards the sonar with his head, "look here."

Miyamoto leaned forward over Seikiro to get a better view of what was on his screen. He watched as the long, green arm of the sonar wiped the screen to reveal a perfectly round image in the lower left corner. Miyamoto blinked rapidly in surprise. "What the hell?"

"That was my reaction. It's… It's perfectly round and the lava flow isn't even affecting it. It's been in that exact same spot every single time the Sonar has scanned it.

Miyamoto was silent for a moment, examining the Sonar. "That's not possible," he spoke with certainty.

"Ah, do you think it's a… malfunction in the system, doctor?"

Miyamoto shook his head, "No. This is brand new, state of the art sonar technology. It can't be malfunctioning. Not at this stage in its life cycle…"

Seikiro nodded and looked back to the screen. "So… what do we do?"

Miyamoto remained silent as he continued to stare at the screen with interest; Marveling at how such and object could exist and in the depths of an  _active_ Volcano as well. How was the pressure not crushing and breaking it apart? How was the heat not melting it? What the hell was it? He knew one thing for certain, however. Whatever that thing was, it was not of this world.

(000)

Rei sat at her desk. It was lunch hour once again and once again she brought out her vegetarian bento box and began to eat. Rei began to wonder if Hikari would once again eat with her today. The class representative's eating schedule was… erratic. Some days she would eat with Rei, others she would eat with the rest of the class, on occasion she would eat with Ikari and Suzuhara. Rei wondered how one could survive that way. Living their life at random, unbound by any set pattern or schedule. It seemed so odd to her. However, Rei supposed that it was  _she_ who was odd in that regard. The more she paid attention to them, the more she realized people generally did not plan for everything. The occasional student who forgot his pencil was one such example; or one who forgot their lunch as well. Unpreparedness and chaos. She supposed it was a human trait – one that she was not created with.

Ikari was also rather unprepared when she had first met him, the day Sachiel had begun to lay siege to Tokyo 3, he had not known what an EVA was, yet he had piloted it anyways, despite his earlier refusal. He had done so because of her she later discovered. He had refused to let her, in her injured state, pilot it, and had done so in her stead.  _Why?_ She had always wondered. Upon her observation of her fellow students, however, it seemed there sometimes were no reasons. It was simply human fallacy. What else could it be?

The Commander had been her teacher. The only thing close to a parent that she had ever known. He always prepared ahead. Every move he made was preplanned and with purpose. That was the only way she had ever known how to live. Any other way was… wrong.

Then, a familiar head of brown hair appeared next to her, Bento box in hand and a smile on her freckled face. "Hello, Rei!" she greeted, happily.

"Hello, Hikari," Rei replied.

Hikari sat her lunch box down and moved a desk in front of Rei's pulling out her own food. "How are you today?" she asked the albino, who continued to take tiny globs of rice into her mouth with a pair of chopsticks.

"I am adequate," Rei replied. Hikari would often ask her that question. Rei found it odd.

Hikari simply smiled in response to the literal answer. She then began to poke around her food with her chopsticks as well, taking tiny bites. "How are things at NERV?" she asked.

Rei paused. "They are the same."

Hikari seemed to frown at that. "Really? Touji hasn't been around more?"

Rei paused once more and tilted her head slightly to the right. Upon recent observations, Rei had noticed that the fourth would remain later that he usually would. Normally, Suzuhara would leave with Shinji, leaving Rei alone for her activation tests. However, lately he had begun to wait on her for some reason. He would ask her how they went, which was also odd to Rei. If he had wanted to know that information, then he need only to go over the data collected by Doctor Akagi or lieutenant Ibuki.

Rei paused, remembering her irritation from the prior day. She had not known what caused it, but she had felt a flash of anger towards Lieutenant Ibuki for some reason. It was not an emotion she was used to. Rei could not remember any time she had felt… anger. Determination was one thing, but anger… it felt…

In any case, she did not know why she remembered this upon thinking about the Lieutenant. Lieutenant Ibuki had never been rude or hostile towards her. Not like the Doctor and pilot Ikari had. So why had she triggered such an emotion from her?

"Um, Rei? Are you alright?" Hikari asked, sounding a bit concerned.

"I am… fine, Hikari. I was just remembering," she paused, "that Touji has indeed increased his presence at NERV."

Hikari smiled at her warmly. "Oh, Good!"

Rei blinked. "Why is this good news?"

Hikari looked surprised, her face flushing a bit. "Oh, I-It's just good that he's taking being a pilot more seriously, you know? I mean, it's important work, isn't it?"

Rei nodded, accepting her explanation. "I see. That is good news."

Hikari smiled and nodded and another silence fell between them. After taking a few bites of rice, she spoke again. "Umm, Rei," Hikari spoke, breaking the silence, "I was wondering if, maybe you would want to start eating lunch with our classmates?"

Rei didn't miss a beat, instead she looked up at Hikari. Her face blank but her voice held a determination in it that Hikari had never heard… and possibly even a little fear. "No."

Hikari blinked in surprise, then lowered her head. "Oh, ok… I'm sorry, I didn't realize that you…"

Rei blinked, realizing just how aggressive she had sounded. In truth, Rei didn't know why she reacted in that way. It was a similar situation to her reaction towards lieutenant Ibuki. Rei frowned. Why was she acting so strangely? Rei couldn't explain, however, the fear that she felt when Hikari had suggested that she eat with her fellow classmates. Why did she feel more comfortable with the class representative than the rest of her class? "I am… not a social person."

Hikari blinked then smiled a sad smile. "Oh, ok. I get it. I'm sorry Rei, I really should have realized. It's just I was just hoping I could get you to make more friends. You always look so lonely back here in the corner."

Rei didn't respond, she just kept looking at her bento box

Then, Rei's phone began to vibrate in her uniform pocket, prompting her to pull it out and answer. "Yes?"

Hikari stared in confusion for a moment while Rei stared blankly down at the food before her. Then, she stood up, pushing the chair back with her legs, making it scrape against the ground. The albino shoved the phone back into her pocket and began to towards the door, unaware that her fellow classmates, that were still in the room, were all staring at her. Rei then stopped and looked back towards Hikari. "Excuse me," she told her and made her way briskly out of the room.

(000)

The three pilots – Shinji Ikari, Touji Suzuhara, and Rei Ayanami – all stood, clad in their plug suits, in a dark briefing room, a circle of light shown around them as they looked upon the head of the operations division and the head of the science division – Misato Katsuragi and Ritsuko Akagi.

"At ten-thirty hours today, at the Mount Yashima research facility, the researchers there discovered an anomaly on their sonar equipment," Ritsuko spoke, pulling up a slide on a holoboard behind her, displaying a green blip on a sonar. It is completely spherical and is unaffected by the flowing molten rock around it. At eleven-thirty hours, Major Katsuragi and a group of section 2 agents arrived at the research facility, commandeering their high pressure molten rock probe to get a proper view of the object – this is what we found," with that, she changed the slide to show an image of what appeared to be a massive developing fetus in a massive disembodied womb.

Shinji and Touji grimaced at the disturbing sight, Rei continued to stare blankly ahead.

"Is-" Touji began, "Is that an Angel?"

"The pattern displayed was indeed blue," Ritsuko replied earning a pale look from Touji and a barely audible deep breath from Shinji. "It appears, however, to be inactive and, therefore, our objective is to capture it."

Rei blinked at that.  _Capture? So, the Commander has successfully been given authorization to enact an A-17…_

"Capture?" Shinji almost scoffed, "You mean, alive?"

"Yes."

Shinji smiled in and shook his head in disbelief. "I thought the whole point of Evangelion's were to kill Angels so they  _couldn't_  reach the geofront," he stated more than inquired.

"Capturing this Angel will help us to better understand them and ultimately defeat them," Ritsuko explained simply.

Rei spoke up now. "How are we going to capture the Angel?"

"One of you will be deployed in the D-type combat equipment, a suit we developed for combat under extreme environmental stress," Ritsuko answered once again.

"Umm…" Touji asked once again, raising a hand awkwardly, "Who is going to capture it...? And what if we can't?"

"If you can't capture the specimen, then your orders are to exterminate it… as far as who will enact this mission-"

"So," Shinji breathed out, cutting them off, "Is unit one already in the D-type or do I have to wait-"

" _Touji,_ " Ritsuko interrupted Shinji in kind, "will be the one to retrieve the Angel fetus."

At that, Touji paled even further and Shinji furrowed his brown and narrowed his eyes at the faux blonde. "But that's-"

"Those are the Commanders orders," Ritsuko answered him before he could finish. "Shinji, you will be Touji's back up. The plan is to lower unit-03 into the molten lake where he will retrieve the Angel. If he fails and the Angel escapes Yashima, then Unit-01 will intercept it."

Shinji continued to glare at her before sighing, shaking his head, and crossing his arms.

Rei spoke once again, "What role will I play in this operation?"

Ritsuko looked to Rei. "You will remain in the Geofront on standby. If unit-01 fails to defeat the Angel, then you will be deployed to protect Tokyo-3," she then looked to the two boys as well, "Any questions?"

There was naught but silence and fear.

At that Misato chimed in. "Don't worry," she reassured Touji and Shinji, "Nothing will happen, it's not even developed yet! And, afterwards, I'll take  _you_ boys to the Yashima hot springs! Rei, you can come too!"

Touji seemed to shift from pale to red at Misato's offer and Shinji let his arms hang down before chuckling once angrily and muttering, "Fucking hot springs…"

(000)

Shinji silently slipped on his plug suit alone in the locker room. Touji had gone with doctor Akagi to be fitted with a D-type plug suit, that would supposedly keep him cool within the molten lake that bubbled within mount Yashima. Annoyed, he tapped the button on the left wrist of his plug suit and felt it snug tightly against his figure.  _Why the hell did father pick Touji?_

Then, there was a knock at the door, followed by the hissing of it sliding into the wall, and the sound of heels clattering against the tiled floor. "Shinji?" a familiar, feminine voice called out, "Are you here?"

Shinji paused for a moment, looking at the blue locker ahead of him and sighed inwardly.  _Misato._ "Yes?"

"Are you decent?" Misato inquired.

"Yes."

She then appeared from around the corner of the row of lockers, a look of concern on her face. "Hey…" she spoke to him, noticing his still displeased face. "I just wanted to talk to you… You seemed upset…"

"Did I?" Shinji asked, sarcastically.

Misato frowned. "I just… I thought you didn't like to pilot. Why were you so upset that Touji got the mission instead of you?"

Shinji sighed once more, shaking his head, "I don't."

"Then why-"

"Because I'd rather it would be me than him in danger," Shinji answered.

Misato blinked and parted her lips. There was an awkward moment of silence between them as Shinji refused to look at the Major, who kept a sympathetic look on her ward. She was shocked, really. Shinji was mad, because Touji would be in danger. Because  _he_ was scared that he wouldn't be able to take the bullet for Touji?  _Does he really think so little of himself?_

"Shinji…" she started, "That isn't healthy…"

Shinji closed his eyes and breathed deeply. That wasn't the entire reason he was angry. He was angry at Akagi, Misato, and most definitely his father. However, the person he was most upset with was himself. He was mad because – he was  _relieved._ When Akagi said that Touji would be diving into the magma, Shinji had never felt so happy. Happy because someone  _else_ would be in danger for once. How could he feel that way? He felt awful. "Well, neither is diving into a volcano, but Touji still has to do it," he countered and made his way to the exit.

(000)

Unit-03, clad in its bulbous D-type equipment, hovered on a crane system that fed beige hoses that suspended said Eva unit. Inside the hoses, coolant was being streamed to combat the heat of the Volcano. Inside was Touji Suzuhara, sweating despite the low temperature, plumped up by his plug suit. Below him, at the edge of the Yashima volcano, with no protective gear was unit-01. Unit-01 and unit-03 could be considered sister units. Their shared design was the main reason for this. Unit-03 was more or less the same design as 01, however it lacked the horn and bore a black and white coat of paint on its armor. Inside Unit-03's twin was Shinji Ikari. Shinji also didn't have any more protective coating than his Eva did, but he stood at the edge of the lava sea and he could  _feel_ the heat from inside the Eva. It was a faint heat, like standing next to a small fire, but he could still  _feel_ it. Any human as close as he would, probably wouldn't last long at all. He then looked back up to Touji for a moment, who dangled helplessly above the back to the pool of lava, holding a large double pronged rod, and frowned.

Some ways away, near where the crane was based, The NERV science division had set up tents and the operations division had set up their mobile base of operations. Under one of the tents, Maya, Ritsuko, and Misato stood staring at the two Eva units. The latter of which lacking her usual confidence in the mission. She was confident that on the ground, in a straight up fight, Touji could easily defeat an Angel, his combat sim scores were up there with Shinji's and the first child was no slouch. However, in a sea of molten rock, when operation was to capture an Angel, she wasn't so confident in  _any_  of the pilot's abilities.

Maya, on the other hand, felt a tinge of relief. After four years, an Angel had emerged, but in this case, they had the advantage. It wasn't fully formed yet – still what could be considered a fetus! If they succeeded in capturing it, then they could learn so much from it. Their weaknesses (besides destroying their cores) and the level of their intelligence (a prospect which excited Maya). She was also relieved, that Shinji wasn't the one being descended into the Volcano. What Misato had said a few days ago was right, though Maya tried to deny it. Having it just said so plainly like the Major had… Shinji had PTSD. That made Maya sad. It made her sad because, he had once been a reserved and quiet boy and she could relate to that, because when she was fourteen she had been much the same. Shinji however, unlike Maya, grew out of that. He was so much more confident, she even envied him, but he was still a trauma victim, the amount of strength it must have taken to move past that and change his attitude must have been immense. He deserved to have a break from being the point man.

Then, out of the corner of her eye, the lieutenant spotted three glaring white dots in the sky, accompanying the sounds of sonic booms. Squinting her eyes and forming a visor with her fingers she tried to see if she could make out what they were, but to no avail.

"What's that?" she asked to either of the two women.

Ritsuko followed Maya's line of sight, then answered, "JSDF fighters."

Maya raised a brow in confusion. "Why're they here?"

"If the Angel by chance does awaken and the pilots fail to stop it, they will drop an N2 mine on the volcano."

"What!?" Maya asked in surprise, "Who would authorize that!?"

"Commander Ikari," Misato answered, her voice hard.

Maya shifted her gaze to the Major, who looked dead ahead. Maya frowned and furrowed her brows, looking to the dirt at her feet.  _That's… not right…_

Misato then glanced down at her wrist and began to walk towards the mobile operations center. "Maya," she said, "It's time."

Maya nodded and followed after her superior.

(000)

"Alright, fire the bore laser!" Misato ordered, beginning the operation. Along with Touji, hanging off the crane was a large square device. Moments later the device fired a bright blue beam, drilling deep within the sea of molten rock, liquifying it to a point that it was essentially just extremely hot water. Quickly, the laser was moved out of the way by a track that was also on the crane and replaced with unit-03. The crane the lurched and the Evangelion began to lower into the red sea below.

Inside the Eva, Touji began to breath heavily as he grew closer and closer to the heat. "Oh… Oh man…" he murmured, "that looks hot…"

As unit-03 began to touch the liquified magma Touji tensed up and closed his eyes involuntarily. When he opened them, he found himself in a sea of deep red. Logically, he knew the Eva was protected and that  _he_ was protected, but he still couldn't believe that he wasn't boiling alive. Of course, he was a little toasty, but it felt no hotter than being under a heater after getting out of the shower.

"Depth is 20 meters!" Maya's voice came over the com system, "Touji, what do you see?"

Touji blinked in confusion for a moment before staring at his screen. "Ah, just Red…"

"Try switching to your CT monitor," Maya offered.

"Oh… uh, yeah," Touji replied and mentally activated the vision mode. It didn't change all that much, some parts of the red just faded slightly. "Well, even like this, I can't see all that much…"

The Eva continued to descend in silence for a good while as Maya continued to sound off the depth. Meanwhile, Shinji couldn't help but sweat, and that wasn't from the heat of the Volcano. What if the hoses broke? What if the entire crane did? What if the D-type equipment malfunctioned and Touji boiled alive? He didn't like it.

"…900, 950, 1000, 1050. We're over the maximum safe depth!" Maya informed the Major, who continued to stare fixatedly at the screen displaying unit-03's live feed. "Depth is now 1300! Estimated target position!"

"Touji, do you see anything down there?" Misato asked, unable to see any sign of the Angelic fetus.

Touji, squinting to spot anything at all, replied, "No… If anything is there, then I don't see it."

"The Lava current seems to be faster than we thought," Ritsuko surmised, eyes equally fixated on the screen.

"The targets velocity doesn't seem to match our estimations," Lieutenant Makoto added

"Recalculate," Misato ordered. "Continue the operation. Resume descent."

And so, Touji continued to descend as Maya continued sound off the depth of unit-03. "1350, 1400, 1450- "

Suddenly, Touji heard a loud crash from inside the suit, as if a glass had been dropped against the floor. "Shit! What the hell was that!?" he cried out, beginning to panic as the image of suddenly being engulfed in an impossibly hot sea of liquid molten rock began to play in mind.

"Touji?!" Came Shinji's worried voice through the com channel.

"A crack has occurred in the second coolant pipe," Ritsuko replied, voice a calm in contrast to the two pilots.

"Depth 1480! We're over the maximum allowed depth!" Maya reported.

"We haven't made contact with the target yet. Keep going," Misato ordered.

So, the Eva continued to descend with Touji inside growing ever more fearful of the possibility of the D-type equipment failing. He began to breath heavily, so much so, that it became audible over the com channel to the point where it was beginning to sound as if he couldn't breathe.

The bridge crew looked to Misato, who stood, staring determined at the screen, waiting for her to give the order to bring the pilot back up. It almost seemed as if she wasn't hearing what the rest of the crew was hearing.

"M-Major," began Makoto, who was beginning to feel uneasy about this.

Misato opened her mouth, but found herself cut off by the voice of Shinji, who spoke over the com channel. "Touji," he spoke, voice solid and a little reassuring, "You'll be fine, the bridge crew won't let you go so deep that the D-type will break, they know better than that."

Oddly enough, as reassuring as it sounded, to Maya, it also sounded like Shinji was giving them a warning.

Touji's breathing began to slow, as what he perceived to be logical thinking began to take over. The calmness that was beginning to wash over him almost immediately evaporated when another crack was heard and the prog knife on the outside of the D-type Eva suit snapped off, lost to the sea of red.

"Maximum depth, plus 200!" Maya called out, beginning to sweat now, then she spoke. "Major, t-the D-type equipment can't handle much more of this pressure!"

Inside his Eva Shinji's brow furrowed and his eye's narrowed, "Misato…" he spoke with a warning tone.

"I am still in charge of this operation," Misato told the both of them. "Keep going."

"Misato there's a person in there!" Shinji yelled over the com channel.

"It's fine, Shin-man," Touji said, trying and failing to sound calm, "Like you said, the bridge crew wouldn't let me die like this, and that includes Misato. I-I mean she's always done right by-" Touji went silent when a large, black orb came into his view. "Ah, I think I've made contact with the target."

In the operations center, the view of unit-03 transmitted the fetus Angel through the main screen. "Visual confirmation of the target," Makoto stated.

Misato folded her arms. "Prepare to capture."

Immediately, the double pronged bar that Unit-03 was wielding extended to almost twice its length and the two prongs extended forward as well. Unit-03 began to move towards the black ball, keeping pace with it in the current. Once the war machine was within range, for orange lines appeared from the tips of the prongs and a force field was emitted from them, securing a hold on the womblike cocoon of the Angel.

In the operations center, the words CAPTURE SUCCESSFUL appeared and Touji's voice could be heard saying, "Got it! C-can you get me out now, please?" A collective sigh of relief was let out by the bridge crew as they began to pull the fourth child and unit-03 back up from the molten lake.

Inside his Eva Shinji relaxed against the seat and closed his eyes.

The ascent back up was a quiet one, as Touji relaxed in the entry plug. "That wasn't so bad," he spoke, trying and failing to sound like a tough guy.

In the Mobile Operations base, the bridge crew continued to monitor the Eva's readings, while Misato and Ritsuko conversed in the back. "Looks like the tension let loose all at once," Ritsuko commented to the Major, who continued to stare at the screen.

"Not all of it," She commented.

"What do you mean?"

"You heard Shinji, didn't you? It sounded like if we had Touji go any lower, then he would've committed mutiny!"

Ritsuko raised a brow, "Wasn't it you, earlier, that suggested we go easier on the pilots? You almost condemned Touji to his death by going over the maximum depth. Now, you're complaining that Shinji responded negatively to you endangering Touji's life? Forgive me for saying so, Misato, but that's a bit hypocritical of you."

Misato furrowed her brow. "This is different!" she hissed, "This is the real deal, sacrifices have to be made in war – especially in a war for the survival of humanity!"

Ritsuko was about to respond when an alarm sounded through the com-system.

"W-what the hell's goin' on!?" Touji asked, as the cage within his hands began to rock violently and a deep, nightmarish wailing began to echo around him. It sounded awful, like the distorted, demonic voice of a newborn infant.

Ritsuko rushed over to Aoba's station, monitoring the Angel. "No way! It's starting to emerge! That's impossible! It's much earlier than we predicted!"

"The cage won't hold!" Makoto called out. As he did, the Angels body began to grow. Long arms sprouted from the cage, breaking the forcefield and an armored body emerged.

"Jettison the cage! Capture mission aborted!"

The Cage in Touji's hands snapped off, falling down the Volcano with the angel inside, it's long, clawed arms reaching for unit-03.

"Priority is now to destroy the Angel! Unit-03, prepare for combat as you ascend!" Misato ordered.

"Right!" Touji spoke, his heart pounding like a jackhammer in his chest as he watched the creature tear through the cage as it fell and escape. It then began to move towards the Evangelion at high speeds.

Touji reached for the prog knife with the pincer like hands of the d-type suit, but found nothing. "Shit, that's right! I dropped the knife!"

"Touji!" Shinji called out in fear.

An alarm rang out inside of Touji's plug, prompting him to shift his attention back to the Angel. It was already on top of him. It was going to ram right into him and tear him off the coolant pipes. "Shit! Releasing ballast!" on his command, a large strap that kept him upright in the molten liquid snapped off and his unit began to tilt forward, allowing the Angel to pass harmlessly beneath him. He could still feel the amount of force behind it, though.

He continued to track it, until he saw it disappear into the red beyond. "Damn! I lost sight of it!"

"Shinji!" Misato called out to her ward, who stood at the edge of the Volcano, looking down in horror, "Drop Touji your prog knife!"

Shinji, in response, unsheathed his prog knife, held it high above his head and threw it down with tremendous force, which was lessened when the knife hit the molten liquid, but still held enough force behind it to get to Touji in a timely manner.

Touji heard another alarm and saw the Angel reemerge. "Fuck! Shinji did you throw it yet!?"

"Yes!" Shinji replied.

"Where the hell- !" Touji cut himself off as he saw the knife come into view. Immediately, he reached for it, catching it in his pincer like hands. "Got it!"

The Angel reached for him, prompting Touji to bring his knife up. To his surprise, the creature  _grabbed_ the vibrating blade, without so much as a flinch and grabbed him by his left shoulder. Then, it opened its, horrific mouth and tried to bight the head of the Eva. Fortunately for Touji, the d-type helmet was too big for the creature to fit into its mouth.

Ritsuko Gawked in surprise. "Impossible! How can it open its mouth in an environment like this!?"

The Angel then began to squeeze on the suits shoulder until the d-type equipment popped like a balloon.

"Engaging heat shields!" Touji said, as a metal barrier formed at the newly made entrance. A metal barrier that wouldn't last long.

Touji then wrestled his knife arm free from the Angel and began to try and slash through its hide to no avail. "Shit! This isn't working!"

Ritsuko looked on, trying to formulate a plan in her mind, when it came to her. "Move all coolant pressure to the left arm cable! Touji, cut that cable and stick it in the Angels mouth!"

"What!?" He called out, "Why!?"

"The sudden difference in temperature will cause the Angel to dissipate! Hurry!"

Touji, cursed but did as instructed, cutting the cable on his left arm and ramming it down the Angels throat.

The Angel let out a pained cry and began to flail its arms wildly about, slashing at unit-03 and missing. However, while it missed the Eva, its succeeded in slashing the coolant cables suspending the behemoth, cutting all but one of them clean off before it dissipated into nothing. The suit then began to implode, it's chest denting inward, the glass on its helmet cracking. Touji didn't even react while he watched in disbelief as the last cable began to tear.

"The Cable won't make it!" He heard someone cry out.

_Oh, man…_

The cable snapped and suddenly he was sinking, arm outstretched lazily in halfhearted desperation. He'd almost resigned to his fate when a hand caught his out stretched arm, saving him from an awful fate.

"Shinji!?" Misato, Touji, and Maya cried out in unison.

A horrible, pained scream filled the com system as Shinji screamed in agony from the intense heat, but maintained his grip on the coolant cables suspending himself in Touji and Touji's arm. Misato, momentarily frozen in shock, then snapped back to reality. "What the hell are you waiting for! Pull them up! He's boiling alive!"


	3. Chapter 3

Evangelion: The Second Coming

Chapter 3 - Change

Gendo Ikari and Kozo Fuyutsuki stood outside of the hospital room of the third child. His son had leapt in a volcano, rather foolishly, in order to save the fourth child – someone the third considered a friend. What had this heroism brought him? His skin had been badly burnt, not to the point of third, or even second-degree burns, but his once tan complexion was now accented by a bright red. Shinji Ikari had not stirred from his unconscious state since he'd been brought in to the infirmary, which had been a day ago. Gendo Ikari had already lost his chance to capture a living angel specimen and he had almost lost one of the keys to his plan. Shinji's reckless actions had almost cost him his life as well as Unit-01. Yui.

Right now, however, Gendo was more preoccupied with the disappointment he felt had the loss of the Angel. Capturing a live specimen could have opened many doors. It could have shed some light on how they came to be, on what they sustain themselves with, and – perhaps most importantly – access to an s2 engine to implant into the Eva's.

Such an asset would be invaluable as it would allow the Eva's to function independently of a power source and be unhindered by the large, cumbersome plug ins that stuck from their backs. Gendo did not blame anyone for this missed opportunity, however. It was not the fourths fault, as he did what he was ordered to in securing the angel. It was not the Majors fault, as she did what she had been trained to do in the situation that had occurred. That didn't make it any less annoying. Gendo, however, did not let anyone know just how annoyed he was by the loss. He treated it as he would any engagement – the Angel was a threat, it's death is what mattered most.

"Akagi says that Shinji's burns are tantamount to a harsh sunburn," Fuyutsuki spoke, not removing his sorrowful gaze from the boy. "She says he should awaken soon, how soon, though, she does not know."

"As long as he is fit to pilot, it doesn't concern me," he stated simply, keeping his gaze on his son, who bore an oxygen mask that lead to a pump as he lay on the hospital bed, lost in unconscious thought. Gendo then pivoted on his foot and began to leave.

"Perhaps if you had told him about what happened to Yui, when he inquired about Rei all those years ago, he would treat unit-01 more carefully?" Kozo offered up, shifting his gaze to Gendo, who kept his back to the older man.

Gendo stopped for but a second before answering. "The third child's injuries are his own doing," he stated plainly and continued his exit, leaving Fuyutsuki alone with a frown on his aged, distinguished features.

The old professor sighed and looked back to the son of his former student. "I'm sorry, Yui."

(000)

Misato, Maya, and Touji all stood at Shinji's bedside, eye's never leaving the boy for fear that they might miss his awakening. There was a chair in the corner of the room, but none of them felt like sitting at that moment. How could they? To sit was to be relaxed and they were anything but.

Every one of them had a reason to be there. Touji blamed himself for causing Shinji to feel the need to leap into the molten liquid to save him. Misato, because the last thing she had said about the boy prior was that he sounded mutinous when all it really boiled down to was concern for his friend, and Maya, simply, like the others, was worried about him. They all had good reason to be as well. His skin now had a slight red tinge to its pigment, he wore an oxygen mask connected to a large machine, and his brow was furrowed in pain. He had only been under the surface of the super-hot liquid for half a minute at most, but half a minute must have felt like an eternity when you were boiling alive.

When they'd finally pulled him from the plug, the LCL was hotter than geyser water and had burnt some of the technicians. They could only imagine how that felt, to have boiling hot LCL bubble inside your lungs. It was a miracle he was still breathing. Ritsuko had said he should wake up eventually, but… how soon was eventually?

Finally, Touji cursed under his breath and stomp towards the chair, practically throwing himself against the seat and holding his head in one hand.

"Touji," Misato spoke, reluctantly taking her eyes from Shinji's unconscious figure, "It wasn't your fault. You couldn't have done anything in that situation to stop the angel from slicing your coolant cables… It was Shinji's decision in the end…" she tried to reassure him. Since they'd gotten back, Touji had constantly been pacing back and forth, waiting for them to allow Shinji visitors, constantly looking guilty. Now, after two days had passed, they had finally allowed for visitation, and it seemed to do little to ease his – their worries.

"No," he muttered, "No, I should have been able to do something that didn't put him in that situation," Touji argued back, against his own innocence.

Misato's eyes widened at his statement. Something about what he said had struck a chord within her. She looked back to Shinji, frowning, eyes low.

Maya, watched as Touji continued to blame himself and Misato's failed attempt at consoling him. He had been doing that the whole two days since they'd rushed Shinji from Yashima to headquarters. In that time, he hadn't left the base. He had stayed a whole two days away from his friends and family, because he felt that if he didn't stay here, he would be betraying Shinji's trust. Maya had tried to console him, but just like with Misato, he refused to listen to her.

Truthfully, though Maya would never tell anyone, she held the Major responsible for this. She was the one who had sent Touji down to retrieve the Angel and ultimately resulted in their situation now, even after she and Shinji had advised against it. What they should have done, when they realized the Angel had surpassed the maximum allowed depth, was target it with the bore laser and either kill it, or force it to break for the surface, where Shinji and Touji could have taken it on together. Maya frowned at the thought, looking to Shinji. Once again, he was made to suffer for other's mistakes. It's not fair, she thought to herself as she watched the unconscious boy continue to breathe through the oxygen mask.

(000)

Rei Ayanami observed Shinji Ikari through the window of his hospital room, noting how red his skin had turned, and that he sported an oxygen mask. When they had gotten Shinji back to the geofront, Rei had watched them rush him on a gurney two the lower floors of NERV headquarters, assumingly to an area of the base she was quite familiar with. The restricted room where they kept the LCL tanks. She was not allowed access to them during the first day and a half, but that had only solidified her guess. It made sense. LCL was, as well as a good conduit for synchronization, a healing liquid. He had probably been unconsciously submerged in a tank, not unlike her own, where his lungs were filled with liquid, being repaired where the LCL in the plug had boiled. It was, honestly, a miracle that Shinji Ikari was even alive now. Though, Rei did not believe in such things.

Despite knowing all of this, Rei could not help but think about the moments leading up to the attack on Ramiel. When she had told him that she would protect him. Sub sequentially, all she thought now, was how she had failed to keep her promise to him.

Rei, face still blank, raised a hand and placed it on the edge of the window seal as she watched the third child in his unconscious state. Oddly, she began to feel distressed as she watched him – in a way she had never felt before. Much like with her anger towards Lieutenant Ibuki, she did not understand why.

(000)

Shinji Ikari's eyes fluttered for a moment, each time they opened, revealing a blinding bright light, prompting them to shut once again until they were used to the sudden difference in pitch. When his vision had adjusted, the first thing he'd noticed was the ceiling and how familiarly unfamiliar it was. He was in the NERV infirmary, that much he knew. But… How did he get there?

Shinji began to roll his eye's around, searching for any clues as to what happened. Looking to his left, he saw nothing but an empty chair and a large glass window, with no one looking in. To his right, there was a pair of oxygen tanks with a white, transparent hose running from them up towards his face. That's when he finally noticed that he was wearing an oxygen mask. Then, he remembered the burning in his lungs. Then he remembered jumping into the volcano.

Shinji leapt from the bed, not paying attention to the various pule monitoring devices taped across his body snapping off, and got to his feet, panting. He soon lost his balance and feel to one knee. Picking himself up on unsteady legs that he scarcely could even feel, he made his way for the door, which seemed to take all his strength to push open, but he somehow managed.

Breaking into the hall way, he looked about, finding no one. Shinji then began moving to look at each of the windows of the neighboring rooms. Touji, he thought to himself, What happened to Touji?! He continued to search until he reached the end of the hallway, which led into an outer hall way, with a view of the lush green forest of the geo front. He paid no attention to it as he rounded the corner into said hallway, almost immediately running into Maya.

"Shinji?" she sounded surprised, "You're up!" she added with a smile.

Shinji, barely keeping himself on his feet, gripped her by the shoulders to support himself and asked her with such urgency in his voice, "What happened to Touji?!"

Maya saw the way his face contorted, he was terrified of what might have happened to his friend. However, Maya could also see that he was on the verge of collapsing. Luckily for her, there was a spare, folded up wheel chair sitting next to one of the large windows over viewing the geofront. "Here," she told Shinji, ignoring his previous demands, grabbing the chair, opening it for him and forcing him to sit, him protesting the whole time.

"Where's Touji!?" he repeated, "Please, Maya, I need to know!"

"Touji is fine," she told him, placing her hands calmingly on his shoulders. "He made it out unscathed, you on the other hand… Well, we were all worried about you."

Shinji seemed so relieved to hear that Touji had survived that he almost appeared as if he were going to slip back into unconsciousness. He didn't even seem to register the latter part of what Maya told him. "Oh, man…" he breathed out in relief. "I thought for sure that…" he stopped himself, calming himself down as he suddenly realized just how fast and hard his heart began to beat. He then paused, a look of peace on his features, and began to examine his surroundings. Then, he frowned, and tried to stand.

"Hey!" Maya stopped him, pushing him gently down back into the chair, much to his surprise. "What are you doing trying to walk? You shouldn't even be out of bed! You've been asleep for four days, Shinji! We need to get you something to eat!" With that, Maya gripped the handles of the wheel chair, and started wheeling a surprised Shinji down the outer hallway.

A few silent moments passed, before Maya spoke again. "So… When did you wake up?" she asked, trying to make sure he hadn't passed out again.

"Ah…" he replied, scratching the back of his neck, in a familiar out there tone, "Just now, I guess. I woke up in the hospital bed and I remembered what happened to Touji, so I panicked."

"Oh. Well, like I said, Touji is fine. He stayed here for two days waiting for you to recover before we forced him to go to school; he'll be happy to know that you're back among the land of the living!"

"Mm," Shinji acknowledged before going silent again. A few more moments passed and the pair entered an elevator. In the reflective metals that covered the inside he caught a view of himself for the first time since he woke up. "Geez…"

Maya quirked an eyebrow at the comment, "What?"

"I'm so… red…" he replied, placing a red hand to an equally red face. Then, he let out a small, humorless chuckle. "That volcano must have broiled me, huh?"

Maya frowned at that. "That's not funny, Shinji."

More silence.

When the elevator reached the ground floor, Shinji spoke up again. "Ah, so where are you taking me?" he asked, as they passed by nurses and doctors.

"To the cafeteria, of course," Maya replied, "Like I said, you need to eat something."

Shinji frowned and sighed, "Well, can we go to the one in the headquarters?"

Maya raised a quizzical brow once more? "Why?"

Shinji sighed once again, looking to one side, "I hate the hospital…"

Maya frowned at his tone. "Alright, I don't see the harm in that. Besides, you need some fresh air too, I guess."

(000)

Hikari sat with Touji, Kensuke, and surprisingly Rei at lunch. They ate their lunch in silence under the shade of a tree in the courtyard. The reason for the silence was simple- there was one important person who was absent today, as he had been for the past week. Shinji was still in the infirmary at NERV. Hikari, despite her problems with Shinji, felt anxious. Every day since that Angel had been defeated, Hikari had asked Rei for an update on Shinji, whom of which always replied with the same answer – that he was still unconscious. She started prodding Touji when he had returned to class two days ago, she wasn't even mad that he had missed class. He wasn't able to give Hikari any better answer than their albino classmate, however. She had tried to call Misato, but the Major wasn't answering, so she was completely in the dark about Shinji.

And she felt so guilty. Touji had told her what he had done – why he was in the condition he was in now. All Hikari could think of was how she had scolded him and insulted him and shot him mean looks. Did she really have too? He was, after all, charged with protecting their city, so maybe she could give him a little more slack than she did. If it weren't for his shirking of his classroom duties, she would have never started talking with Rei, so there was that. All she really wanted to do right now, was apologize to Shinji.

Kensuke was in a similar boat. He knew about as much as Hikari on the matter. All he could think about, however, was all the times he had sounded so envious of his friends. He had always wanted so desperately to pilot an EVA, but had never really considered the consequences. Shinji had fallen into a Volcano – or rather, he leapt into one. He had to experience everything that came with that. Kensuke couldn't imagine a worse pain.

"Ikari will recover," Rei spoke from out of the blue, eating from her bento box. The girl had been acting strangely lately, Hikari had noticed. When the time came for them to go to lunch, Rei had been the one to seek her out and now, she had followed her outside to eat with Touji and Kensuke as she had yesterday. However, that did not do much to quell their fears.

It amazed Rei, just how much silence could communicate what another person was feeling. Guilt. Hikari, Suzuhara, and Aida all emitted it like an odor. Rei wondered what they could feel guilty for? Suzuhara's predicaments were an unforeseen variable in the angel capture mission, and he could not do much to alter them in any case. Hikari was not involved at all with the operation, yet she still acted as if she played a factor in pilot Ikari's incapacitation. Aida was perhaps the least involved with the going-ons at NERV, but still emitted the same guilt as the other two.

Rei looked back to her bento, the same bento she ate every day. Human beings are so very complicated…

Suddenly, the sound of vibration echoed from Touji, prompting the rest of the group to look at him eagerly with a mixture of hopefulness and horror. Hopeful for some news about Shinji, horrified that another Angel had appeared so soon. What none of them considered was that Rei's phone had not rung, so the possibility of an Angel attacking was unlikely.

Eagerly, with a hint of fear, Touji answered. "H-hello?"

"Touji!" Maya Ibuki's voice came from the speaker, "It's Shinji, he's woken up!"

"What!?" Touji exclaimed, and pushed himself up in a hurry and was about to make a mad dash for the exit of the school, before looking back to Hikari, who gave him a confused look.

"What are you waiting for?" she asked, "Go!"

With her blessings, Touji took off, backpack, lunch and schoolwork forgotten as he rushed to the geofront, leaving Hikari, Kensuke, and Rei alone. Hikari, looked over to Rei, who continued to eat undisturbed by Touji's sudden exit. Clearing her throat, the class rep spoke up, "Ah, Rei, aren't you going to go as well?"

Without looking up from her food, Rei answered, "I was not called. My presence is not needed."

Hikari frowned at Rei's answer.

(000)

Shinji and Maya sat in the empty cafeteria, Shinji hungrily stuffing his mouth with an assortment of foods he'd picked out. Foods he would never normally eat. Burger, cup ramen, anything that didn't need to be prepared. Normally he wouldn't dare touch the stuff, he would just fix his own food – what good was being a cook if he didn't take advantage of his abilities whenever he could? At this moment, however, he could care less.

At the opposite end of the table, Maya sat with a small plate of blue gelatin, observing the previously hospitalized boy. A small smile was on her face as she watched him mow down his food. He had seemed to calm down after they'd gotten out of the hospital and back to the main headquarters. "I told you you'd feel better after you ate," she offered with a happy smile.

Shinji swallowed some ramen and grinned back at her. "You know, you never really realize just how hungry you are after waking up in a hospital room until you get some food in front of you."

Maya smiled awkwardly at his statement. He had obviously meant it as a joke, but there was more than likely a layer of truth to his statement. After all, this wasn't the first time Shinji had been hospitalized by an Angel. "Good one…" she commented uneasily, which seemed to go over the pilot's head.

Suddenly, the loud sound of a heavy door opening in an empty cafeteria sounded about, prompting Maya to look past Shinji's shoulder and Shinji to turn halfway, not really wanting to leave his food, to see who the new comer was.

Normally, the purple flowing locks, long legs, and mini-skirt elicited dopamine from Shinji. It was a familiar sight, just like the smile on Misato's face. However, at the moment, Shinji couldn't help but feel a little put off by his guardian's presence.

She seemed happy to see him, however, which was evident when she briskly walked over and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, hugging him tightly and pressing her cheek against his, ignoring his hisses of pain as she irritated his still burnt skin.

"Oh, Shinji," she said, elated, "I'm so happy you're alright!"

"It's… Nice to see you too, Misato."

Releasing him from her hug, she placed a hand on his shoulder as he turned around to continue to eat. "I was really worried Shinji. Ritsuko said that you would eventually wake up, but… Well, we began to have our doubts after day three…"

Shinji paused as he lifted a piece of burger to his mouth. Maya had said something about that when he ran into her at the hospital. Four days… he thought to himself, I wonder how things have been at school?

"Well," Misato continued, "We can forget about that now, thankfully. When we get home tonight, I'll make you a nice meal!" she paused, leaning in close to Shinji, and lowering her voice, "Or maybe we can stop by the store I like on the way home, you know? The one where I do a lot of shopping."

Shinji set his burger down and sighed. "I don't think I'll be coming back Misato," he said, earning an unnoticed look of surprise from Maya.

Misato simply laughed. "I was just joking Shinji! You know that I don't and can't cook," she paused, folding her arms, "Wasn't joking about the store though."

Shinji closed his eyes for a moment and silently breathed in deeply. "I mean… I don't think I'm going to live with you anymore."

Misato's elation suddenly turned to shock as she stared at the back of Shinji's head. She licked her lips and swallowed silently. "You… you don't want to come home?" she asked, chuckling nervously, hoping this was some kind of lame prank.

"No," he replied, sounding a bit more determined than usual, "I'm sorry, Misato… I don't think I can live with you anymore."

Misato chuckled once more, "Well, If- if this is about my messy habits, then I can change that… It'll be hard, but I can change…"

"It's not about that Misato, it's… I just can't live with you anymore, I'm sorry…"

Misato frowned. She moved her hand a bit, thinking about placing it on his shoulder, but decided against it. "W- where will you live then?"

"Well, I'm 18 after all, I'm sure I can find a place. My NERV ID basically ensures that in any case," he paused thinking about it further, "Until I actually do find a place… I guess I could just stay in the old apartment blocks down here in the geofront…" he answered, displeased at the idea, but finding it better than to remain with Misato.

Misato, Maya noticed, looked kind of hurt at his declaration. Hurt and confused. Soon though, Maya saw the realization dawn on the Majors features. Awkwardly, Misato gripped her right arm, looking off to one side.

"I… I see," she said, remembering what had happened at the volcano – what she had ordered despite her subordinate's protests. She suddenly realized how helpless Shinji must have felt. On the battlefield, he was expected to listen and obey… In his personal life, she had to accept whatever decision he made. Sucking in a breath, Misato looked away. "I… Well, I should get back to the office, I've still got tons of paper work to fill out," she excused herself with an uncomfortable laugh.

Shinji nodded. "I'll see you later," he told her, "To get my stuff from the apartment… If you're home, that is, I mean."

Misato hesitated for a moment before leaving, once again leaving Maya and Shinji alone in the cafeteria.

Maya followed the Major as she made her way out, suddenly feeling very awful about telling her about Shinji's recovery while he was busy at the food line. Her eyes then shifted to Shinji, who had seemed to have lost his appetite. He looked… sad. Sad and alone. Maya began to shift her hand forward, attempting to place her palm on the back of his hand to comfort him, but stopped herself, unsure how to really approach him. Then, she began to form an idea in her mind. Breaking the silence, Maya poked at her gelatin with her spoon. "You could," she paused, considering it herself, "move in with me? If you want, I mean…" she offered, earning her a surprised look from Shinji.

"I mean… until you find a place for yourself, that is…. So, you don't have to stay down here. I know you don't like it down here."

Shinji kept his gaze on Maya for a moment, before he smiled a gentle smile. "Thanks Maya… if it's not a bother."

"Not at all!" she replied, elated that he accepted. Maybe I can do something for him…

(000)

After a forty-five-minute trip, taking him through Tokyo-3 on its train system, and the added fifteen that it took actually get into the geofront, Touji had finally made it into headquarters. However, after the agonizingly long trip (which had never seemed so unbearable before now) Touji now faced a new problem. Just where the hell was Shinji, exactly?

The fourth child had already paid a visit to the geofront hospital, but Shinji had already taken off. He tried the eva chambers, the sync test chambers, and the activation test chambers, but so far had no luck in finding his friend. So, he decided to find the next best thing – Misato.

If anyone knew where Shinji was at any given time it was his babe of a guardian. So, he found his way to her office, knocking twice before politely making his way in. Immediately, he noticed her distressed look, which more than likely had to do with the mountainous stacks of paper on her desk. She didn't even seem to be working on anything, though. She just held her head in one hand as she stared blankly on her desk, her lower lip pushed slightly outwards in what appeared to be frustration. Touji didn't even think she noticed him.

"Ah, Miss Misato?" He announced his presence.

Misato almost seemed to jump. "Oh… Touji," she acknowledged, taking a moment to put on a false smile. "Wh- What can I do for you, today?"

Touji blinked, Misato was acting… off. However, he had a much more urgent matter to have resolved. "Miss Ibuki told me that Shinji was awake… I was wondering if you knew where he'd be?"

Misato, seemed to try to sneak in a deep breath before she answered. "He's… Well, he may be in the locker room…" she answered, sounding unsure, "He's probably trying to get some clean clothes, after all, he's been in that same hospital gown for the past few days, right?" she added with an awkward chuckle.

Touji nodded, "Yeah, that makes sense… I didn't look there, because Shinji really doesn't like the locker rooms, ya' know? He –"

"It reminds him of waiting in a doctor's office, right," she answered for him quickly. "I'm sorry, Touji, but I've got a lot of work to do… as you can see."

Touji blushed a little. "R-right," he answered, "Sorry to interrupt you, Misato. Thanks for your help."

Misato nodded slightly and the boy took his leave, leaving the Major alone with her thoughts once more.

It wasn't long before Touji was down the hallway that lead to the locker room, a sense of purpose in his stride as he restrained himself from running. Everybody all day had been talking about how Shinji had recovered. Touji, for some reason, had trouble believing it. How could he? He heard Shinji being boiled alive in the Eva. He wouldn't believe Shinji was okay, until he laid his own eyes on him.

It seemed, though, he didn't have to wait much longer as the door to the male's locker room swung open, revealing a slightly red Shinji, dressed in some black, knee length basketball shorts and a lose orange top with… something written in English. Touji stopped in his tracks upon seeing the third child. Honestly, he still didn't believe that he was up and about.

Shinji blinked in surprise at Touji's sudden appearance before him, then awkwardly greeted him with, "Hey… Touji," he paused, raising a brow slightly, "Shouldn't you be at school right now? It's not even three."

Touji laughed and gripped Shinji by his red shoulders, causing him to hiss in pain at the larger boys grip. "Haha! You really are up!" he told Shinji. "Maya called me and told me! Hikari even let me skip class to come here… Well, I guess that's not that surprising, really. I mean, this time it was actually NERV business," he explained, laughing a bit and letting Shinji go.

Shinji raised a brow, "Hikari let you skip?" he asked surprised.

"Well, yeah! She was worried about you to, ya know? Her and Ken and…" he paused, coughing a bit, "Everyone was worried."

Shinji smiled at the thought of his friends concern for him. "What for? It isn't the first time I've been boiled inside an Eva."

Touji laughed awkwardly. "Yeah… guess not… So what're ya' doing now? Wanna go to the arcade? Or, were you planning on heading home? I'm cool with whatever, just throwing it out there."

Shinji frowned. "Actually, I was going to head back to Misato's apartment really quick and grab some things," he answered.

"Grab some things?" Touji asked, "Grab some things and then go somewhere, you mean? Whaddya' gotta grab?"

Shinji smiled a little sadly and shifted his eye's away. "Oh, you know, some clothes, my tooth brush, just my things in general."

Touji furrowed his brow and frowned, suddenly feeling kinda anxious. "Y-you're not leaving Tokyo-3 are you…?" he paused, "I-I mean I wouldn't blame you… It must have been awful, what happened to you but I-"

Shinji laughed awkwardly at Touji's assumption, rubbing the back of his neck. "No, nothing so drastic as that. I'm just moving out of Misato's is all."

Touji looked as if a question had been answered for him for a moment. Oh… That explains what was wrong with Misato… but why? Touji asked just that, "You're moving out of Misato's apartment?" he asked, "Why the hell would ya' do that!? In case you haven't noticed, Shin-man," he argued, placing his hands on Shinji's shoulders once again, "She's a babe! She walks around half naked all day for crying out loud! What kinda man would want to leave that!?"

Shinji looked at Touji confused for a moment, before simply smiling and sighing, "It's just… complicated, Touji. I mean, you're welcome to move in with her if you like." He added as a joke.

Touji wasn't in the joking mood though. He genuinely did not understand Shinji's desire to leave such a life behind. Misato didn't appear to be handling it so well either. Touji wanted to tell the third child off! However, he didn't want to mar his reunion with his friend, who he wasn't sure was ever going to wake up again, so he settled for something else. "So… where're you going to crash now?"

"I'm, uh, going to start rooming with Maya," Shinji answered, uncertain of how Touji would respond.

"What!? So you're moving out of one babes house and into another!? You lucky bastard!"

"Ha Ha," Shinji laughed dryly, "It's not like that was originally my plan – I was going to find a place down here in the geofront, but Maya offered and, well… If it means I don't have to sleep down here…"

Touji folded his arms and huffed, "Still, it ain't fair, man! Why do you get to room with all the cute girls!?"

Shinji grinned in dry amusement, "You're very lucky that Hikari isn't around right now."

Touji's eyes widened after he realized what he just said. "Y-you're not gonna tell her are ya'?"

Shinji smirked, "I dunno…"

"C-come on, man!" Touji began to plead.

"Ah, Shinji?" A new, voice entered the hallway prompting the two pilots to turn and find Maya approaching them. "Oh, Touji, you're here already. I thought you'd still be in school right now."

Touji rubbed the back of his neck, "Well… Hikari let me off this time…" he admitted.

Maya smiled, "Oh, that's nice of her. From what Shinji's told me she can be a bit of a hard case about rules… I guess she's kinda' like me in a way I suppose."

Shinji and Touji shared a laugh. "Oh, you're nowhere near as up-tight as Hikari," Shinji reassured her. "Anyways, I got all I needed from the locker, are you ready to go, Maya?"

Maya blinked in surprise. "Oh, uh, yeah. If you're ready let's go," she said uneasily, much to Shinji's confusion.

"Alright," Shinji then looked to Touji, "I'll… probably see you at school tomorrow, Touji. If not there, then definitely here."

Touji nodded, watching as the two new roommates began to take their leave, "Yeah, see you tomorrow!" after they had left, a feeling of guilt began to creep over him. He couldn't help but recall his encounter with Misato a few moments earlier and how her sudden change in attitude now made sense. Why in the hell is Shinji so upset with Misato? What could drive a man to move out of a house with a babe like her in it?

Touji just sighed, hoping this didn't become another thing like he had with Rei.

(000)

Shinji slid his key card across the black scanner next to Misato's door, disarming the lock and alarm system installed by NERV. Oddly enough, even though he wanted to get away from his now former guardian, his hand and heart felt heavy as he opened the door and stepped into the empty, slightly messy apartment. Inwardly he sighed, I've been gone for four days and she's already let it go…

He was fortunate enough, however, to have gotten to the apartment before Misato had even gotten out of work. It was the only stop he needed to make before headed to Maya's, who had already gone home. They had ridden together on the train system to the stop nearest to Misato's apartment before Shinji had told her that he could get his things on his own. The lieutenant looked like she wanted to protest but agreed anyways.

The third child made for his room, observing the house around him. There were beer cans all over the place, none on the floor thankfully, but on just about every surface there were a few yellow cans of Yebisu. Shinji grimaced. Geez. Picking up this many beer cans for Misato must have made me numb to it.

Making it to the end of the dark hallway, he slid the door to his room open, revealing an out of place, tidy little room. There wasn't much there. A mattress, a few books, and his phone which had replaced the S-DAT he used to own. Shinji hadn't seen much use for it after he got a phone, so he threw it out. Or maybe he threw it our just to spite his father. Most likely both.

Sighing, Shinji moved out back into the hall and opened the storage closet, revealing a few boxes. Shinji picked out a large box, went back to his room and began to pack. First, he went to his closet, sliding the door open and taking a look at his selection of clothes. He wouldn't be taking everything, of course. Some of the stuff just wouldn't fit him. So, he grabbed a few pairs of pants, some of his t-shirts and button-ups and a pair of swim shorts. It wasn't much, but he would at least have enough clothes to wear something different for every day of the week, besides, he could get more clothes later. Shinji thought about taking the books with him, but he didn't really read much anymore, so he decided to leave the behind, placing them in the far corner of the closet. Grabbing his phone, he began to take his leave.

Shinji opened the door with one hand, while keeping the box snug, by pressing it between his arm and his torso. He was about to take his first step out when a thought popped into his mind. Oh yeah… the key card. Reaching into his pocket, Shinji brought out the black card and fixated on it for a moment. He felt… hesitant. He didn't know why. Misato had shown that she didn't regard the lives of the pilots very highly as she ignored both his and Maya's protest when she continued to lower him into the depths of the volcano. Still, he found it hard to actually finalize his decision.

Taking a deep breath, Shinji laid the card on the surface of the dresser by the door and left, manually locking the door as he did so and hurrying away from his old home, afraid to look back.

(000)

Maya hurriedly dusted her furniture as she waited for her new roommate to arrive. When she had gotten home it had dawned on her just how messy her apartment was. There were dishes in the sink, the couch was a mess, there were various assortments of clutter left on the coffee table and not to mention her bedroom. Thankfully, Shinji wouldn't be going in there. Being as much of a neat-freak as Misato described him to be, Maya would feel pretty embarrassed if he had seen her apartment the way it was when she got home.

Another thing she realized is that she would have to be more discreet about throwing away her… well, more womanly items. She hadn't even realized that the trashcan in her restroom had so many… In any case, she'd have to start wrapping them in toilet paper or something to keep it hidden from Shinji.

She began to suddenly feel a bit scared. Was this the right decision? Rather, was she comfortable with this decision? There was enough room for him, to be sure, being that there was a spare room, but was she comfortable with sharing her home with someone? Someone of the opposite sex at that – and so young. Of course, that first fear was a little unfair – the lieutenant swung both ways, as they say, though she had a slight predilection towards women. What would her co-workers say? No one ever really said anything about him and Misato living together, but the age difference was much greater there. Between herself and Shinji there was only a ten-year gap and while that sounded like a lot, Maya's parents weren't so far apart in their age difference. She would have to set some ground rules with Shinji about letting people know about their situation. Touji already knew, but they would have to be quiet about it. Not lie of course, because that would raise even more rumors, but they would have to be careful to not bring it up.

Suddenly, her doorbell rung, removing Maya from her thoughts, and prompting her to call out automatically, "Come in!" Shit! I'm not done dusting…

The door opened, as Shinji entered her home, holding a brown box under his right arm, awkwardly stepping in and looking around for Maya, who came hurriedly up to meet him. "W-welcome home," she greeted, sounding a little bit awkward.

Shinji blinked, looking a bit surprised, then smiled and casually replied, "I'm home," walking in and closing the door behind him. The third then began to look around the apartment, taking note of the kitchen, den, the bedroom nearest to the kitchen, and the one off to the other side of the living room next to what could only be a bathroom.

Maya caught this and her face grew red. "I-I'm sorry, if it's not very clean, I just – I don't have very many visitors,"

"Are you kidding?" Shinji asked, sounding a bit cheery, "This is worlds cleaner than Misato's apartment. Not an empty beer can in sight!"

Maya allowed herself to relax a bit. Well, that's a good start.

Shinji then turned to her, "Umm, not to rush things, or anything, but which room is mine?"

Maya blinked in confusion, before realizing what Shinji was asking. "Oh! Umm, the one at the far end of the living room, by the bathroom," she pointed out for him.

Shinji smiled, "Alright, thanks. Do you mind if I take a shower?"

Maya smiled, "Shinji, you live here now; you don't have to ask to take a shower," she told him, hitting his arm lightly.

"A-alright thanks," he said, moving to set his clothes in his new room.

Maya watched with a smile as he went from his room to the bathroom. Well, so far so good. He's very polite and, unlike me, isn't making things awkward. Maybe this'll be okay… Oh damn, I forgot to tell him about the heater! "Ah, Shinji, let the shower warm up for a few minutes. It takes a while for the heat to kick in." she advised as he started to close the door.

"Oh, that's fine Maya, I wanted to take a cold shower anyway," Shinji replied nonchalantly before closing the door behind him.

It was then that Maya remembered why exactly he was going to be staying here in the first place. Why he still had a slight red tinge to his skin even four days after what happened during the Sandalphon mission. And, here I am worrying about how comfortable I'll be…


	4. Chapter 4

Evangelion: The Second Coming

Chapter 4 - Awake

In first hours of the morning, before day began to break, Maya found herself awakening to the smell and sound of sizzling bacon on a pan, as well as eggs, and the faint smell of toast. Sitting up from her mattress, she looked to the door, which she had left slightly cracked as she found it hard to fall asleep in absolute darkness. Rubbing her tired eye's, she tossed her sheets from herself and stood, stretching to a point where her bright blue Pajama shirt revealed her lower stomach, and relaxing with a satisfied groan.

Opening the door, she found, to her surprise, Shinji in her kitchen, cooking over the stove, in a set of loose, white pajamas. She stared at him with interest for a few moments, as he continued to cook, looking half asleep himself with his hair disheveled, and light bags under his eyes. Oh yeah, Maya recalled what she'd learned of Shinji over the years they'd known each other, He can cook too. She then grinned selfishly to herself. Maybe I won't let him leave.

"Good morning, Shinji," Maya greeted, stepping out of her bedroom, yawning as she did so.

Shinji, blinked and looked to his right, "Oh… Good morning, Maya," he greeted in kind.

Maya frowned, getting a better view at his tired eyes. "Did you sleep well?"

Shinji chuckled a little and began to rub the back of his neck. "Well, I always have trouble falling asleep under new roofs, you know? Don't worry, I'll get used to it," he dismissed her concern.

Maya kept a weary gaze on him. She'd remembered, from talking with Misato, that, when he'd first moved to Tokyo-3, Shinji would wake up in his bed screaming in the middle of the night and being unable to get to sleep afterwards. While Maya didn't hear any screaming last night, she couldn't help but wonder if something like that was going on. After all, he was just in critical condition. Nevertheless, she decided not to push him.

Glancing to the clock, she realized that it was only four o'clock in the morning, she didn't have to be at NERV until eight. She still had another three hours before she had to leave. Generally, Maya wouldn't be up until six, use that time to shower quickly, head back to sleep for a few minutes, get ready until seven, and then hop on the train. Shinji, as far as she knew, didn't have to be to school until eight-thirty, and Maya didn't live all that far from the high school – thirty-five minutes on foot at best.

The lieutenant looked back to her new roommate. "Ah, Shinji, not that I don't appreciate it, but you really didn't need to get up this early to make breakfast. I don't have to be in for another few hours… And you don't have to be to school until even later, right? If you go that is… Isn't it kind of early? Not that I won't eat it, I mean!" she tried to make it clear to him.

Shinji looked to her again with tired eyes and gave her a friendly laugh, "Oh, my mistake," he apologized, "Normally I make breakfast for Misato around now… Since she leaves so early. I just figured everyone else did as well, sorry that I woke you."

Maya smiled, "It's fine, Shinji, it's better to wake up to the smell of food, anyhow. Normally, I just have to make some toast and run off that until lunch!" If the Major gets up about four, then why doesn't she get in until ten? Somethings off…

Sighing, Maya decided that it was best not to bring it up, if Shinji wasn't going to say anything about it. Besides, maybe the Major does get up that early, maybe she is as lazy as Senpai says… Smiling a little to herself she looked towards the clock again and then back to Shinji. "Well… I'm going to go ahead and get rinsed off then, Shinji," she paused, "Have you taken a shower yet?"

"Huh?" Shinji asked, looking as if he were spacing out for a moment, "O-oh! No, not yet. Don't worry, you leave earlier than me, right? You go ahead and take your shower. I'll probably get back to bed and take a little nap after I finish scrambling the eggs"

Maya raised a brow, "You're not going to eat?"

Shinji seemed to stare in a trance-like state at the sizzling bacon strips in the frying pan, watching them darken due to the heat and the grease bubble up around them. He grew very still, almost as if he had stopped breathing, before he tore his head away from the scene and smiled at Maya. "N-no, I'm fine… I'll just have some cereal. You can have it… I even made a little extra for later, if you want."

Maya nodded uncertainly, "O… Okay, sure."

Shinji smiled gently at her and went back to cooking, causing Maya to throw him a concerned look as she walked to the bathroom.

When his host shut the door behind him, Shinji exhaled and backed away from the stove. In truth, Misato didn't actually wake up this early, and he didn't make her breakfast but on her days off since they usually coincided with the weekends. However, last night, he couldn't get back to sleep. Actually – that wasn't technically true. He had gotten sleep for a few hours, but those hours of sleep had only served to give him nightmares, a retelling of how he had been boiled alive. He'd woken up and refused to go back to sleep. Instead, he wanted, for the first time in years, to try and play his cello, but he'd forgotten to grab it at Misato's. It was probably in the back of his closet, he had put it away such a long time ago. Instead, he decided to do one of the only other things that would calm him down: cooking. He didn't even intend to eat it, he just wanted to do something other than remember the heat of the volcano. Clearly, it wasn't a very good idea, considering he was cooking over a stove! In the end, all he ended up doing was making himself feel slightly better, and waste some of Maya's food.

Sighing, the third child went to place a hand up to his forehead, but stopped when he noticed the hand trembling in response to the memories. Shinji frowned and clnched his fist. Quit shaking, you coward…

(000)

Hikari fidgeted uncomfortably in her seat, as she kept shifting her gaze from the clock to the door. Class was about to begin, and most of the class had arrived already, Touji and Rei included. According to… her boyfriend, Shinji said he might be coming to back to school today, but 'might' was the keyword, wasn't it? Hikari had been relieved to hear that Shinji was up and about seemed more or less his usual self, however, much like Touji, Hikari couldn't really believe something unless she saw it for herself, so she eagerly awaited Shinji's return.

Sighing softly, Hikari shifted her gaze to Rei, who was staring, as per usual, out the window, seemingly lost in thought. Over the past few days, the girl had shown more emotion than she had ever seen her in the time she had known her. Of course, it wasn't entirely obvious, but whenever Shinji's name was mentioned she seemed to pay much closer attention to the conversation. Hikari only had to wonder why, though. It seemed odd to her. Shinji treated her so poorly, yet she still worried over him like she had. It was also really sad.

Suddenly, the door opened, and Hikari instinctively stood up, to begin the school day. "Ri-" She stopped herself, unaware that much of the class had started to obey her commands before she had finished her sentence. It wasn't miss Taguchi that had entered the class room, however. It was a slightly surprised, slightly red, Shinji Ikari, who held his school bag off one shoulder, frozen in surprise at Hikari's sudden raise in tone when he entered.

Shinji looked about the classroom, noticing all eyes were fixated on him, except for Rei's of course. It wasn't hard to imagine why. The next few days after an Angel attack and he didn't show up to class. They must have thought he was critically injured, or worse. Now, he finally does show up and he's red. Must have been a bit of a shock.

"Hey," he greeted the classroom a little awkwardly, as he closed the door behind him.

Hikari smiled lightly, "W-welcome back."

Shinji smiled back at her and took his seat, uncomfortably feeling as if every set of eyes in the room were on him.

(000)

Once again, lunch was upon them, and the three stooges were gone. This time, however, they hadn't gone to the roof as they normally did. When Hikari had overheard Kensuke suggest that, she'd also heard Shinji say something a bit odd. 'It's too hot to eat on the roof'. It was true, it was hot outside, but this was Japan, it was hot every day. Instead, the group had gone to the stairway at the end of the hall to have their lunch.

The class representative herself had stayed behind in the classroom to eat with Rei as she had been doing much more often. The albino had been showing improvement in her social skills – the evidence being in their conversation. She understood phrasing and slang much better now. Today, however, she was a bit silent. Of course, that was technically Hikari's fault. As much as Rei had been improving, she still generally didn't speak unless spoken to, or about.

"So," Hikari started, searching for something to ask Rei that didn't pertain to Shinji, as she didn't want to make her uncomfortable. But, does anything really make her uncomfortable. Of course, as soon as she thought that, she felt kind of bad. Rei had been obviously distressed when Hikari suggested she eat with one of her friend groups. In a way she was kind of like Shinji used to be, except not as… afraid, Hikari supposed. "How is… your food?"

Rei swallowed a bite of her usual bento, "It is acceptable. How is yours?"

Hikari smiled a bit at the question, it showed that Rei wasn't uncaring as everyone assumed she was. "It's good!"

"Then why aren't you eating as much?"

Hikari paused, looking back down to her Bento. Lunch was halfway over and Rei was right – Hikari had barely touched her lunch.

"Cl- Hikari," Rei spoke, prompting Hikari to refocus her attention on the blue haired girl, "You do not have to eat with me if you do not desire to. It is apparent you want to speak with Shinji. I do not mind if you do." Rei stated plainly.

Hikari felt a weight lift off her shoulders, then, at the same time, she suddenly felt guilty. She was about to take up Rei's offer. Leave her alone to go hang out with the same person who often ridiculed and ignored her. The very person she seemed to worry about most. Rei said she didn't mind but… was that really the case?

"Well," Hikari started, "Not really… I saw him come in didn't I? That's enough for me to know he's alright."

Rei remained silent and nodded, continuing to eat.

Hikari frowned. "I'm really sorry, Rei."

Rei swallowed her food and looked to Hikari, tilting her head to one side. "What are you sorry about?"

"It's just… You looked so worried about Shinji over the past two days at school. But, he treats you so badly. He really shouldn't. Not when you worry about him."

Rei looked, for the first time, visibly surprised, speechless even. "I… Shinji is an integral part of the pilot core, it is important that he remain healthy and able…"

Hikari could only smile sadly at Rei.

(000)

Misato sighed as she examined the stacks of paper on her desk. No matter how much she completed , there always seemed to be more on her desk the next day. Most if it was the same. The Yashima research facility was still upset about the loss of the probe they had allowed the Major to use when she had arrived to investigate their claims of possible angelic activity. Can't they just be thankful that an Angel is dead!? She thought, angrily as she tossed the report to the side. Besides, currently NERV had other expenses to take care of, rather than pay for some geologists little toy. She was referring to the damage unit-01 had received when it was submerged in the molten river. It wasn't irreparably damaged, but it certainly did need some touch ups. The breast plates needed replacement due to being compromised by the pressure, the suit underneath the armor needed to be repaired after the less protected areas had been singed off. Evangelion armor was anything but cheap. However, the thought of the purple war machine brought her mind to something else weighing on her. Shinji.

The boy had woken up yesterday, but it felt as though he didn't, as though he were still in a coma. The night prior, after she finally got home from work, had felt so… lonely. Misato hadn't felt that way in a long time. She had cooked her own dinner for once, had washed her own clothes, and had finally noticed just how messy her apartment was without Shinji around. I should do something about that. The final nail on the coffin though, to just how alone she felt, was seeing Shinji's black key card lying on the table next to the door. It had been a shock to Misato. She hadn't fully realized, until just then, that Shinji was gone.

She sighed and laughed a little as she felt tears begin to form in her eyes. She had empty nest syndrome.

When she had arrived at work in the morning, she immediately went to the apartment blocks in the geofront, which were generally reserved for the mechanics and scientists below Ritsuko, however, when she'd arrived inquiring about the third child, she was made aware that he hadn't moved in. She was puzzled but not worried. She wondered where he had decided to stay instead of the complex, or if he had already found a place, but he wasn't worried. If anything had happened to him, section two would have let everyone know by now.

She speculated that he could be staying with Suzuhara. That was the most likely option. Maybe, he was even staying with Aida. She would have to ask him when, or rather if, he arrived at the geofront. Activation tests had been scheduled for today, but Shinji was omitted from them due to his EVA undergoing repairs.

Misato sighed, cupping her hands over her mouth and leaning against her elbows. Please be here today…

(000)

As Maya helped her senpai set up the lab equipment for the days activation test, she couldn't help but worry. Shinji had so suddenly moved in with her and she taken the rest of yesterday off. Ritsuko hadn't asked why, but Maya worried what she would think of her having Shinji move in with her. It was no secret between the two, that Maya had always felt… well, a little lonely, and she was worried that her mentor might get the wrong idea about the nature of their arrangement. It was funny, four years ago, Maya would have been worried that such a thing would make her seem unavailable to her Senpai but, over time, she had lost her crush on the older woman and now saw her only as a respected colleague. It was inevitable, really. Maya was prone to confusing admiration for attraction and the head of the science division wasn't really what one would call a double hinged door like her underling was.

"Maya," Came the faux blondes voice from behind the mousey tech, causing her to stiffen up in surprise.

Turning to face her mentor she looked at her slightly wide eyed. "Y-yes, ma'am?"

Ritsuko looked her up and down, "You're rather energetic this morning," she then smiled, "Don't tell me you took off early to go meet someone."

Maya blushed at her insinuation. "Senpai! It wasn't anything like that!"

"Really? Then why aren't you acting sluggish as you usually do in the morning?"

Maya blinked. Sluggish? Am I really sluggish in the mornings? More over however, Maya realized that her mentor was right. She did feel a bit more energized than she usually did this morning. Must have been having an actual meal this morning that did it. Thanks, Shinji!

Folding her arms in indignation at Ritsuko's insinuation, Maya answered her. "If you must know, I had a very good breakfast this morning!"

Ritsuko paused for a moment then began to laugh hysterically, causing Maya to raise a brow in confusion.

"W-what's so funny? I don't get it."

(000)

Rei Ayanami sat in her Evangelion, eye's closed as she focused on syncing with the beast. Truthfully, Rei had to try harder than either Suzuhara or Ikari to sync with her unit. Unit-00 was… a problem child. It was prone to going on a rampage at unforeseen times and Rei could feel that it did not like her. Though, over the years, the soul inside of the machine seemed to have calmed down, or had learned better than to misbehave. Not to say that it would not occasionally try to rough her up, but it would not try to kill her and those incidents were far and few in between. Despite this though, it actively resisted synchronization with her. Unbeknownst to it, however, Ayanami had gotten used to its attempts to keep her out and had formed a sync score despite its protests. However, there was still a barrier that Rei had yet to break.

Suddenly, over the intercom, Rei heard the sound of the entry way to the pribnow box open and closed, followed by a series of greetings and welcome. "Shin-man!" Pilot Suzuhara had called out, elated, "You actually showed up!" "Welcome back, Shinji," Doctor Akagi acknowledged his presence likewise.

Her concentration broken slightly, Rei opened her eyes, revealing the image of the pribnow box being sent through her link with the Evangelions optic nerves. Surely enough, she saw pilot Ikari in the pribnow box and heard him acknowledge their welcoming's. "Well, I mean, I don't have much to do after school with you being here, Touji, so I decided to drop in and wait till you finished your activation test. As usual."

She then saw Shinji take a seat next to lieutenant Ibuki and exchange a silent greeting and watched as they silently began to discuss things the microphone, and likely the other inhabitants of the box, could not hear. Unbeknownst to herself, Rei frowned.

The lieutenant, noticed something at her terminal, and then spoke into the intercom. "Rei," her voice flooded the plug, "Your score dropped a bit. Is something wrong?"

Rei blinked in surprise, then closed her eyes once again and tried to focus on syncing once more. "No. I was distracted for a moment."

In the pribnow box, Maya frowned. That's odd… Kinda like last week. Something must be going on with Rei. But, what? Normally that girl is untouchable…

"So," Shinji started, looking back to Ritsuko and Touji, "Where's Misato?"

"Misato was busy today. You're little stunt at the volcano caused us to have to order some replacement material for unit-01," Ritsuko answered, showing she was displeased at his recklessness.

Instead of trying to defend his actions and antagonizing her more, Shinji chuckled lightly. "Yeah, sorry about that…"

Ritsuko sighed, placing her hands in the pockets of her lab coat. "Don't worry," she told him, "I'm only giving you a hard time. When it comes down to it, NERV would rather have to replace some parts on an Eva than lose a pilot."

An awkward silence insued.

"So," Shinji started once more, "Has Misato spoken with you about yesterday?"

At that Maya stiffened. Shinji…

"What about yesterday? Besides your waking up?"

"I uh… I moved out of Misato's… I was wondering how she was doing."

Ritsuko looked surprised, then blinked rapidly. "N-no, she didn't say anything to me. She seem any different today. Misato's a strong woman, Shinji, I wouldn't worry." That was a lie. Not about Misato being strong, but about Misato's mood. Ritsuko had noticed that the Major had been a bit downcast. She tried to hide it, but knowing the girl for a decade plus, it was easy for Ritsuko to tell the difference between the real Misato and a façade. "Where are you staying now, Shinji?"

Briefly, Shinji glanced to Maya, who seemed to be growing anxious. "Ah, well… I've got a hotel room until I find a place for myself."

Ritsuko raised a brow. "You know you can stay at the apartments down in the geofront, right, Shinji? They're hardly used as it is, so there are plenty of vacancies."

Shinji laughed uneasily, "Well, it's no secret that I don't like it down here, I think."

Ritsuko nodded in recognition of that fact. "True enough. Living alone is a big responsibility, though. It may get a little lonely, obviously, but there's a freedom unlike any other that come with it."

Shinji once again laughed uneasily, "Thanks."

In the back, Touji gave an amused, but curious look to Shinji, crossing his arms and shaking his head.

(000)

After the tests had concluded, and Maya was finishing up her report with Doctor Akagi for his father, Shinji found himself aimlessly wandering the empty hallways of NERV headquarters. Touji had already left after Shinji said he wasn't really in the mood to hang out at the arcade that night. Instead, he decided to wait for Maya to finish up her work before heading back home. She was letting him stay with her for the time being, after all. It would be rude for him to go home without her.

After wandering about for a good amount of time, Shinji realized that he was down the hallway from Misato's office. Subconsciously, he must have wandered there through habit. Instead of turning around, like he wanted to, hoping to avoid Misato, he found that he was simply gazing at the door. Strangely, or maybe not so strangely, the view began to feel… foreign to Shinji. He chuckled to himself. It hadn't even been a full day since he had moved out of her care and he was already beginning to feel like he hadn't talked to her in ages.

"Shinji! There you are!" Came a familiar voice from the left, prompting the Third to shift his attention from Misato's office. Sure enough, it was the Major herself, coming towards him with a slight smile. In contrast to her smile, however, there was a bit of apprehensiveness in her eyes. Or maybe it was sorrow. Shinji stopped thinking about it.

"H-hey Misato," he greeted awkwardly.

"I tried to visit you in the apartments down in the geofront, but the clerk up front told me that no one else had moved in recently… Where did you go?"

Shinji paused. What should he tell her? The way Maya was looking at him earlier gave him the vibe that she didn't want him blabbing about his new residence, but… This was Misato. She could keep a secret, right? Sighing, Shinji rubbed the back of his neck. "Well… Maya offered, so… I'm living with her now. But, don't tell anyone. I don't think she wants it getting out."

Misato blinked for a moment, looking surprise, before smiling gently and nodding. "Oh, so you moved in with Maya? That's good, she's a nice girl. I was worried that maybe you were out on the street. Then, I'd have to force you to move back in with me!" she answered, ending the sentence with an awkward laugh.

Shinji looked to one side. "Y-yeah…"

An uncomfortable silence ensued.

"Ah, Misato," Shinji spoke up.

Almost eagerly, Misato answered, "Yes?"

"I left my cello at your place… I was wondering if I could come by sometime and get it. Whenever, you're off that is."

Misato smiled gently at him again, "Of course, Shinji. I'm off this weekend, come by then if you like."

Shinji nodded.

(000)

On the train ride home, Maya sat, leaning her head against the glass window, shutting her eyes. She was tired. Taking off early the day prior meant she had to finish the rest of that day's work as well. So, along with the preparations for the activation tests, she was swamped that day. Furthermore, Shinji had almost let Senpai know that he was staying at her place. She would have to talk to him about discretion later.

Opening her eyes, she spotted her new roommate standing a few seats ahead of her, holding onto the railing, while he looked down at his phone with his ear buds plugged in. He'd been silent since they left the headquarters. Maybe he was mad about having to stay late? No, that didn't stound like Shinji. But, he looked distracted.

"Um," Maya started, "That food you made this morning was really good. It's really a shame you didn't want any. I did save some left overs though, just in case."

Shinji looked at her as if he'd been shaken out of some trance, then removed one ear phone. "Oh, um, yeah, thanks. I mean, I'm not so hungry but… I'm glad you liked it."

Maya frowned slightly. There was something off about Shinji. Ever since he'd woken up yesterday, he seemed… so timid. He was acting how he used to when he first arrived. As if he were scared. Maya wondered if he was just being over polite due to her generosity. Maybe it was something else?

"Is something wrong, Shinji?" She asked, her voice curt this time, not really a question so much as an accusation.

Shinji looked at her for a moment and there seemed to be some sort of internal debate going on inside of him, before he finally answered, "No. It's just a little weird… waking up after being out of it so long. I'm fine, Maya. You shouldn't worry."

Maya frowned and shifted her gaze to the floor. She knew, and Shinji knew, that he was lying. However, like before, if he wasn't comfortable talking about it, she wasn't going to make him. There has to be something I can do, though… Then, it came to her.

"Shinji," she started again, prompting his attention. "I um… Well, you lived with the Major, right? Well, you know, I have some… beverages in the back of the fridge. And," she chuckled, a little, "I'm sure living with the Major for as long as you did you may have developed a taste for alcohol. If you want to… relax a little, I won't object."

Shinji looked surprised for a moment, then smiled. "Well, I'm not really a drinker, but I will if you will, Maya?"

Maya blinked in surprise. "Well, I mean… I guess I could. After all, it's not really any different from drinking with a coworker in some ways, I suppose," she said, trying to convince herself. Even though Shinji isn't of age yet… I really shouldn't allow it, but… He kind of deserves some way to unwind.

Shinji's smile brightened. "Thanks, Maya."

Maya smiled back at him, ignoring her mental protests.


	5. Chapter 5

Evangelion: The Second Coming

Chapter 5 – Bonding

Shinji exhaled softly as he stood in front of Misato's door. The weekend had finally come and Misato was free that day, which happened to be Saturday. Maya had offered to come with him, but Shinji declined, besides, he didn't want her to be late for work. He was actually feeling much better now than he did when he first woke up; the heat didn't bother him so much and he could actually get to sleep. She didn't outright show it, but Maya could see that he had been acting different. Shinji felt bad about that, he didn't want her worrying about him. It wasn't  _her_ responsibility, after all.

Shaking the thoughts from his mind, Shinji raised his fist and knocked on the door thrice, before letting his arm fall to his side and waiting. It didn't take long for Misato to answer the door, in fact, Shinji might even have accused her of rushing to the door. He didn't however, as she answered the door with a friendly smile. "Welcome home," She greeted.

Shinji gave her an awkward smile as he entered and removed his shoes. "Uh, thanks…" he replied, following her into the living room that he used to call home.

Misato grinned, spun about on her heel and threw her arms up, as if unveiling some grand work of art. "Ta-da!" she exclaimed, proudly, awaiting a reaction from Shinji.

At first the boy looked at her oddly, confused. The living space looked how he'd  _always_ kept it – it dawned on him. Last time he'd been here, the house had been a wreck, completely trashed, now it was sparkling clean. Sure there were a few beer cans on the coffee table, but other than that… nearly spotless.  _Meaning…_  "Wow… You did this all yourself?"

Misato nodded. "That's right!"  
Shinji smiled at her and looked around once again, taking somewhat of a double take. "I'm… impressed. You did a really good job, Misato."

"Thank you! I learned from watching a master," she joked, causing Shinji's cheeks to redden slightly and prompting a smile from her.

A silence settled between them as Misato continued to smile happily. Shinji soon broke it by speaking up. "I'm sorry I can't stay long…" he began, beginning to feel as if he quickly wanted to leave. "I've got homework to finish over the weekend, and I've got to go meet up with Touji later."

Misato's bright smile seemed to fade, but a welcoming grin remained. "Of course," she acknowledged, "I won't keep you."

Shinji nodded and made his way into his room and began to shift through his closet for the Cello. The part about the homework was a lie, but the part about Touji was entirely true. At least, it was this morning. He was going to go on another 'not date' with Hikari, but it turned out the brunette already had plans, so he and Shinji decided they were going to chill out together. They still hadn't gotten a hold of Kensuke, however, but in the end they'd probably just go over to his house and play some games there… Arcade sure was crowded on the weekend.

After finding the strings instrument, Shinji held it up to inspect it. It was a little dusty, but otherwise it looked fine. He then blinked once as his eyes felt a little watery and a light rain cloud seemed to form in his throat. Taking a deep breath, he sighed.  _You can't stay here._

(000)

Hikari looked at the abandoned apartment block in front of her, feeling very exposed and uncomfortable.  _This is where Rei lives?_ Of course, Hikari, being the class representative, had access to the addresses of all her classmates, including Rei, and she knew she wasn't in a particularly well-developed area of Tokyo-3, but… this was so…  _dirty. She's a NERV pilot isn't she? What's she doing living in a place like this?_

Hearing glass shatter from somewhere in the distance, Hikari hurried into the apartment block, hoping to get to a less exposed area. Upon entering the grounds, however, she was greeted with a large man in black stepping from out of a door way. Out of instinct Hikari screamed.

The man didn't seem phased by her scream in the slightest and instead got right down to it. "What business do you have here?" he asked the high schooler who had wandered into the abandoned structure. Upon closer inspection, she found he was dressed similarly to some of the agents that she would see around when she had been dating Shinji. They weren't as mean as they looked, but that wasn't to say they weren't mean at all.

"Umm," she started, collecting her thoughts, "I'm here to see Rei…" she stated, sounding almost uncertain of herself.

The man paused, looking her up and down from behind his shades, then spoke again. "Why?" it sounded like a statement rather than a question.

Hikari paused, considering what reason she could give that they would accept.  _Shoot, what should I tell him? Homework? Rei forgot her homework? No. He'd probably search me… Shoot!_ Not being able to think of anything on the spot, and seeing the man's growing impatience, Hikari decided to just tell him the truth. "I wanted to… hang out with her."

The man seemed almost dumbfounded. "Hang out with her?"

Hikari paused, raising a brow, "Yes?"

The man was silent for a moment, face unreadable behind his shades. He then slightly relaxed. "Go ahead, her apartment is number 402." He then disappeared back into the doorway he came from, shutting and locking it behind him, leaving Hikari slightly confused, questioning as to whether or not that incident had actually occurred. She then shook herself out of her stupor and began to walk up the flight of stairs to her left, searching for the number 402.

Eventually, the class representative stumbled upon Rei's apartment, immediately noting how the mail slot was stuffed full of envelopes, some even littered the floor, as if the mailman had decided to simply drop it as he passed by. Hikari frowned, surely Rei must have taken notice. Did she just not care or what? What about that guard who she ran into earlier, shouldn't  _he_ be keeping after her?

Shaking her head, Hikari moved to knock on the door, but was surprised, almost appalled when she realized that the door when her knuckles tapped it. She gripped the rusted handle, grimacing at the texture and turning the knob. It moved, but there was no locking mechanism – it didn't even latch on to anything - the door was practically just there for show. Hikari furrowed her brow and her mouth dropped open slightly.  _Why does she live here?_

Pushing the door open slightly and peeking her head into the dark room, the only light source being the rays that cut through the blinds coming from some window, Hikari called out Rei's name. "Rei? Are you home?"

Rei ayanami looked up from her book, surprised actually. She hadn't expected any visitors today. The Commander would have scheduled an appointment with her and the section 2 agents did not normally bother with her unless there was an Angel attack. So who-?

"Rei?" came the voice again. Rei recognized it's owner.  _The class representative… What is she doing here? I have not missed any class and I do not believe I left my homework in class._ Closing her book, Rei stood.

"Yes, Hikari, I am here," the blunette answered.

There was a pause. "Oh, okay, good. May I come in, Rei?"

It was Rei's turn to pause this time. Why was she asking? No one had ever asked for permission to enter her home, they simply did. Awkwardly, Rei answered. "Yes."

Rei heard the sound of the door's hinges squeaking as the door was opened and moved back into its position in the frame. Calling it closed would not be quite right. She then watched as Hikari slowly came into view, looking around.

Immediately, Hikari noticed just how… well… dirty the place was. There was trash strewn about, the walls were stained and there was a box full of bloody bandages in the corner. Suddenly, the representative was very angry.  _How can they allow her to live this way? It's obvious she can't take care of herself!_ Hikari then looked over to Rei and saw what she normally saw. That bored, apathetic expression on her face.  _Maybe… Maybe she doesn't want to take care of herself?_ Hikari thought for a moment.

Upon examining the girl further, Hikari also noticed that she was still in her school uniform, and the brunette didn't think it was because Rei had school spirit.  _Are these the only clothes she has? I… I don't think I've ever seen her in anything else…_

"Hello, Rei," Hikari greeted with an uneasy smile.

"Class Representative," Rei greeted in kind.

There was a long, awkward pause before Hikari said anything. "Rei, I was wondering… If maybe you wanted to hang out, today?" she asked, ready to be dismissed.

Rei looked at her with a confused tilt of the head for a moment, before asking, "What would we be hanging?"

Hikari looked surprised before laughing lightly. "No! I mean… would you, um" she paused, trying to ask it in a way Rei would understand, "Do you want to spend time with me today?"

Rei actually looked slightly surprised at the question. Hikari had to wonder, judging based on her reaction - did she ever have any social contact beyond school? Of course, there was NERV, but she doubted NERV particularly cared about the girls social skills. "I…" she paused, looking conflicted, "I do not have to attend any synchronization tests today. I would not mind, Hikari. How would we spend the day?"

Hikari smiled at the blunette, glad that she had accepted her request. Then, it dawned on her.  _Oh no. What_ are  _we going to do? I didn't think she'd actually accept._ Biting her lip, the class representative took a look around the girl's apartment. No television in sight was the first thing she'd noticed. Her thoughts soon retreated to the observation of how much of… of a sty the apartment was, perhaps they could clean it? Hikari frowned. That wouldn't be a very fun way to spend the day with Rei, perhaps, if things went well, they  _could_ eventually get around to that. Today, however, Hikari wanted to show Rei that being around other people could entail more than just work and could actually be fun  _Clearly, she doesn't much enjoy cleaning._

Hikari then looked back to the albino, who stood expectantly, waiting for the representatives response. Looking her up and down, it finally dawned on Hikari. "Why don't we… go shopping for clothes!" she offered, forcing some enthusiasm in hoping it would excite Rei.

Rei blinked. "I have no need for new clothes. My uniform is still in good condition."

Hikari frowned slightly. "You mean, your school uniform really  _is_ all you have?"

"I have only ever seen our classmates wearing their uniform. Commander Ikari wears only a single selection of clothes. Pilot Ikari does as well, mostly," Rei paused, examining Hikari, "Today is the only day in which I have seen you in another set of clothing besides your uniform, Hikari."

Hikari blinked, looking down at herself. She was wearing a white print tee with the print being obscured by the overall skirt-dress she wore over it, ending more modestly at the lower thigh, a whole few inches lower than what most girls seemed to enjoy currently. She then looked back to Rei, "Rei, you can't only have a single pair of clothes… Even if you wash it a lot, it can still cause… infections," she pushed her point, but upon noticing this did little to change Rei's decision, she added, "Besides, wouldn't it be more convenient  _not_ having to wash your clothes every day?"

_That_ seemed to gain the girls attention as she looked to one side, mulling it over. "You have a sound point, Hikari. Very well, we will go… shopping," spoke the albino, the word sounding foreign on her lips. However, noticing the positive reaction the class representative gave, Rei smiled the feintest of smiles.

(000)

The two girls walked into the Tokyo-3 mall and the first thing that Rei realized was that she had never seen a building with so many souls inside. Men, women, and children all spread about visiting the various stores that lined the walls of the 1st second and 3rd floors. It was very much alike to a small, condensed city. Unbeknownst to the albino, her mouth slightly gaped at the sight.

From beside her, Hikari spoke, "So, where do you want to start?" she asked, gaining the attention of her classmate.  
Rei looked at her for a moment, then looked around at her surroundings, once again skimming over the stores. She frowned slightly, then answered. "I do not know."  _Everything is so… disorganized._

Hikari couldn't really say she was shocked that Rei was overwhelmed by the number of stores and probably people. Judging by how she lived, Hikari wouldn't doubt that she didn't even know which of these stores even sold clothes, apart from the ones featuring mannequins in the windows. Of course, that's why she was here. She wanted to help Rei. Placing a hand on her shoulder, the class representative pointed to a small, white shop at the corner of the row of stores, where a gap formed to make way for another hallway, "Why don't we start there? Okay?"

Rei nodded and followed Hikari. Upon entering the store, the two girls were met with a quieter atmosphere than the rest of the mall, with few people inside the store, most of which were women, and a calming tune being played over the speaker system, the bustle of the compressed city muffled by the glass and drywall of the establishment. The store smelt particularly fresh as well, so much so that Rei had taken a moment to inhale it.

"Well," Hikari stated, exhaling, "let's take a look around." With that, Hikari moved into the organized jungle of clothing, Rei following close behind, observing as Hikari began to sift through clothes, looking for something that caught her fancy. As Rei had done throughout most of her short life, the albino began to mimic the class representative. The two of them went on like this in silence for a while before Hikari had noticed that, opposed to the pair of shorts, shirt, and sundress she had picked out, Rei was following behind her empty handed, staring blankly ahead. Frowning, the brunette inquired, "Is something the matter, Rei?"

"No," Came back the bluenettes casual reply

"You don't have any clothes," Hikari pointed out, "You don't like what you see in the store?"

"I don't know what I am supposed to be looking for."

Hikari blinked, surprised. She knew that Rei was a little… inadept at living, but she couldn't really believe that the girl didn't have any sense of what she found appealing, or if she even knew if she found appealing.  _Okay… This is gonna take some work._

"Okay… let's see what we can find for you," she stated, walking with Rei towards a random rack and began to shift through it. Rei stood behind her, looking over her shoulder and observing as Hikari shifted through clothes, noting as she grabbed a light blue t-shirt, a white shirt, and a red one. The brunette then walked around to another side of the rack and began to shift through the items there. She pulled off a pair of jean shorts that stopped at the mid-thigh, a black skirt, and a pair of overalls not dissimilar to her own. "Here," stated handing the selection to Rei, "go try these on and tell me what you think."

Rei observed the clothes Hikari gave to her and frowned slightly, singling out the red T that Hikari had handed her. "I don't want this one," she stated simply, discarding it on another rack, much to Hikari's intrigue. The albino then began to undo her school uniform, beginning to undress.

Hikari, who had almost passed out when she realized what she was doing, slapped Rei's hands from her clothing. "Rei!" she whispered, fixing up her school uniform, "You can't just do that in the middle of the store!"

"Then, how will I determine if the clothes fit? It would be unfortunate if I returned home and found the articles weren't adequately sized."

Hikari sighed and gave her a light laugh. "There are changing rooms at the back, silly."

Surprisingly, Rei seemed to blush a bit as a red sheen appeared on her porcelain cheeks. "I see…" Rei then made her way to the back, taking the time to observe the two rooms, noting the gender difference in them and, much to Hikari's relief, choosing the right one.

Sighing in exasperation Hikari, smiled shaking her head. It was like taking care of her baby sister, Nozomi. Then, her attention shifted to the discarded red shirt.  _She doesn't like red?_

(000)

Hours later, Hikari and Rei found themselves walking across the walkway to Rei's apartment, Rei holding a few bags more than she had gotten at the store; with Hikari's help, she had made quite the hall. Hikari was surprised at the girl's wealth - she had paid for herself and Hikari at every store, by simply swiping her NERV card. When she thought about it, however, it made sense. Of course, the girl was an Eva pilot, she had to have at least some compensation for that. In fact, thinking on it, Shinji seemed to always have an abundance of wealth as well. She wondered if Touji was getting paid like they were…

When they made it to her door, Hikari spoke up, knowing that if she didn't the day would end awkwardly, because Rei wouldn't say anything unless Hikari prompted her too. "I had fun today, Rei," she told the girl, causing her to pause as she gripped the door handle. "Did you?"

Rei paused, then spoke as she entered her apartment, "Yes, today was enjoyable, Hikari… Thank You," and with that she disappeared into her lair of an apartment. Despite the informality of it, however, Rei's show of appreciation made Hikari smile.

(000)

Maya stood next to her senpai, holding her clipboard to her chest as the two observed the work being done to unit-01. The once purple and green robot still held its color scheme, but with the addition of new, shiny metal armor plating being grafted in place of the armor that had been extensively damaged where the defense was low – particularly the arms and legs. Noticing area's where the lava had caused unit-01s paint job to broil she began to wonder why they bothered with painting the things at all, but that wasn't her or doctor Akagi's jurisdiction. It was the maintenance crew who painted the Eva's to what the saw fit. At least it was in NERV; Maya had heard tell that when the second child in Germany saw the bright pink unit-02 she nearly had a heart attack and demanded it be repainted a strong red with orange accents, she also had her plug suit redesigned in such a way. "Everything seems to be coming along well…" she commented off-handedly, trying to elicit a conversation.

Ritsuko, who had been looking on with equal interest, took her cigarette from her mouth and exhaled a puff of smoke. "Yes, actually. At this rate, we should be able to resume Shinji's activation tests by Monday, God willing."

Maya frowned slightly. She was among those – those being herself, Misato, Touji, the bridge crew, and many other staff who had heard tell of what happened to Shinji through the grape vine – that believed Shinji deserved a bit more time off. It was true that he'd gotten better - he wasn't up at four in the morning, making breakfast that he wasn't going to eat anymore since that first morning, at least – but he was still a bit shaken by the incident. Maya had noticed his aversion to hot foods and the amount of water he had been drinking lately. Water bottles almost made up half of their trash can. Now, whether Shinji just liked water  _that_ much or not, Maya couldn't say for certain, but she still thought it was unnatural for  _anyone_ to seem to need it as much as he did. Sometimes, he would get a brand-new bottle before he finished his current one – something Maya got onto him about – as if he hadn't even realized it was still there. He always looked like he was in a hurry to get to the pantry to get it too. "Maybe we can let him relax a little bit longer? At least from activation tests? I mean, we still need them to finish unit-01s paint job, right?" Maya added, with an awkward chuckle thrown in.

Ritsuko sighed. "Maya, I get that you and Misato and everyone are worried about Shinji. It's not unfounded. He very clearly experiences Trauma from piloting," she paused, "but, just like I told Misato the other day, this doesn't excuse him from his duty as a pilot and that  _includes_ attending these tests. You never used to argue with me about this before. What's going on?"

Maya blinked, surprised. "N-nothing. It's just, he's been acting so off ever since the Sandalphon incident. It's like he's regressing. He doesn't like being around hot things and he has trouble sleeping at night. In fact I - "

Ritsuko looked back to her protégé, an inquisitive look on her face. "You sure seem to know a lot about the third child, Maya. I knew you two were friends, but I didn't think you were privy to his sleep schedule?"

Maya's throat went dry. Her senpai was beginning to piece things together.  _Of course she is,_ Maya thought,  _this is Senpai!_ Not wanting to embarrass herself further by futilely making up some kind of excuse, Maya just decided to spill the metaphorical beans. "I… I may have let Shinji move in with me,"

Ritsuko opened her mouth to speak but, afraid of hearing the possible disapproval, Maya went into blurting out her excuses. "I-it was only because he wanted to move out of Misato's, though! He needed a place to stay, so I offered! It's not anything scandalous, if that's what you're thinking! I would never - "

"Maya," Ritsuko said, raising her voice slightly, "It's fine… I was just wondering why you had Shinji lie about it. I don't care whether or not you and he are rooming. It's really not that big of a deal."

Maya blinked in surprise, "You don't think it looks a little suspect?"

Ritsuko smirked, "With you? No. Now, when Misato took him in,  _then_ I was worried. That woman is too playful for her own good. You, however, are a responsible adult. I don't have to worry about the third, if he's staying with you anyways," she paused, looking back towards unit-01 and smirking, "He does have a nice butt now though, doesn't he?"  _he's growing remarkably similar to his father._

"Senpai!" Maya groaned in annoyance, guilty herself of making then same observation at one point.

(000)

As the sun began to set, Shinji found himself back in Maya Ibuki's living room, sinking into her couch, watching some crime drama that she enjoyed. Shinji didn't really think much of the show, but then, crime drama really wasn't his thing. Matter of fact, Shinji didn't really think he had a preferred favorite genre, he just knew what he didn't like. Maya seemed to Enjoy it, though, and she was letting him stay under her roof, so the least he could do was watch it with her. Glancing to the clock that hung by the door, Shinji noticed that it was actually almost seven o'clock, about time for him to get started on dinner. Using that as his excuse, Shinji began to rise from the couch when Maya spoke up.

"Shinji," she said, turning down the television, "H-how are you feeling?"

Shinji paused, recalling the past week. He had been getting more or less a full night's rest, though, as usual, his sleep was plagued with nightmares, but over the years he'd grown accustomed to these nightmares as much as he would any other dream. It was true that some were worse than others, but he grew used to those too. He didn't mind the heat as much anymore, either. Not as much as he did when he first woke up. His friend group had resumed their lunch breaks at the roof of the school, despite the glaring sun. Standing over the stove was a little bit more uncomfortable than usual, still, but nothing he couldn't handle; still, he felt the need to grab a bottle of water more often than not. Even if things were still as bad though, Maya didn't deserve to be burdened by  _his_ problems. Smiling at her softly he said, "I'm fine, thanks." He noticed Maya frown.

"I um," Maya started, "Doctor Akagi figured out that you were staying with me," she told Shinji, trying to change the subject. "I kind of let it slip, you know. Ha ha!" she laughed a little nervously.

"Are you okay with that?" Shinji asked, "I can… leave if you want me too."

"No," Maya said, "It's fine, really. I'd still you rather not go telling everybody though, just for privacies sake." At that Shinji nodded and she paused, looking down at her knees, then back to the boy, who was making his way to the kitchen, "I'm sorry, Shinji," she said.

At that, Shinji turned, giving her a confused look. "What for? What's the matter?"

Maya's frown deepened. "I tried getting Doctor Akagi to extend your break for a little while longer before resuming your activation tests, but she didn't go for it. I'm sorry I couldn't do more for you."

Shinji looked genuinely surprised for a moment, then waved his hand dismissively. "Don't worry about it! She's right anyway, I  _should_ focus on piloting… After all, now the Angels might be back, so I can't afford to slack anymore."

Maya sighed audibly now, "Shinji it's okay to be scared, you know? You don't have to hide it or anything, no one's going to judge or blame you. You pilot giant death machines and fight extradimensional beings bent on the destruction of mankind!" she told him, with a slight chuckle, "No one expects you not to be scared…"

Shinji frowned, shifting away, "I'm not scared, Maya," he lied. He knew it was a lie, one that he told himself all the time.

"Maybe not scared, but Shinji, you obviously have some form of PTSD," she argued, her voice raising in slight concern. "I hear you tossing and turning in your sleep sometimes you know? When I have to go to the restroom, mumbling to yourself. I see how you shy away from hot surfaces and temperatures now and we both know why that is. Shinji, I want to help you, that's why I wanted you to move in with me, because I didn't like the idea of leaving you on your own while you still have these problems."

Shinji frowned, then sighed, "I'm sorry, Maya. You shouldn't have to worry about me. It's not like it's your fault."

Maya frowned, "Then who's fault, is it?" she asked, almost demanding an answer.

Shinji frowned, and pondered this for a moment. Truth be told, he  _wanted_ to blame his father. That bastard had been the reason for everything else that went wrong in his life, but he couldn't say that. Father had  _given_ him a choice. Shinji  _chose_ to pilot the robot and after that he  _chose_  to stay. Scratching the back of his neck he sighed, "Well… Me, I guess…"

"What?" Maya asked, confused. "What do you mean?"

"Well, it's not like you guys are exactly keeping me here against my will now, are you?"

Maya gave Shinji an incredulous look, as if he had just babbled non-sense. "Shinji… It's not your fault. How could you think that?"

"Because, I chose to stay and pilot," he answered.

Maya, that same look on her face shook her head. "What kind of reasoning is that? No one at NERV or in Tokyo-3 thinks that just because you decided to pilot Eva means you deserve any of what has happened to you." She sighed somberly, standing up and moving to place a hand on his shoulder. "Shinji, why do you put all this weight on yourself?"

Shinji paused, then smirked. "Well, who else is going to do it?"

To the pilot's surprise, Maya pulled him into a hug, rubbing his back. Shinji, not knowing really how to respond, awkwardly hugged the woman back. "Maya, really, it's fine. I've gotten used to it already. It's just a thing now, you know? It's natural. I can deal with it."

Maya pulled away from Shinji and the pilot noticed she looked like she was on the verge of tears. "That's not fair, Shinji!" she told him. "You shouldn't have to do that! Just because you pilot an Eva, you shouldn't have to live with all that pressure!" She then placed her hands on his shoulders and shook him a bit, as if she were trying to wake him up. "From now on, if you ever have any problems, you  _have_ to tell me, okay? You're my ward, so you  _have_ to."

Shinji sighed, and looked to one side. "Is that a rule now?"  
"It is!" she answered his rhetorical question.

Shinji blinked in surprise then exhaled through his nose and nodded. "Okay, okay. I promise to tell you."

Maya smiled at him. "Good," she said, "Now, come sit down and watch something with me, okay? Don't worry about dinner, we'll order take out, the good stuff, okay? It's Saturday anyway, the only thing you should be doing is relaxing right now."

**Author's Note:**

> Just in case anyone thinks otherwise, I'm not Rei bashing. The first and Shinji's relationship in this story is going to have impact later on in the story.


End file.
